South Africa and Palestine Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral governance cooperation.
The MoU was signed by South Africa's Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Lechesa Tsenoli and his Palestinian counterpart Saed Al Koni in Pretoria, where the Palestinian official is on a visit from Feb 16, Xinhua reported.
It is aimed at providing a framework for the two countries to cooperate in the sectors of the local governance and municipal development like finances, amalgamation and restructuring.
The MoU is a symbolic representation of a step towards building a better world, said Lechesa Tsenoli. "It will offer us an opportunity to learn from each other."
"We view this as a great opportunity for our people, especially the youth to be skilled and trained."
"The MoU will lay the foundation not only for the government to government exchange, but also for people to people," said the South African minister.
South Africa has maintained good relations with Palestine since its ruling party African National Congress established close relations with the Palestine Liberation Movement during their national liberation struggle.
South Africa established diplomatic relations with the state of Palestine Feb 15, 1995 after the apartheid ended in 1994.
