Hugo Chavez, the left-wing president of Venezuela, arrives in South Africa next week for a state visit, his first to this country. There is, says Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, much to talk about.

In particular, the Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica will be keen to sign an energy cooperation agreement with her Venezuelan counterpart, who has the keys to one of the larger reserves of oil and natural gas in the world. For their part, the Latin Americans are keen to have South Africa unlock the secrets to successful gas to liquid fuel technology.

A second memorandum of understanding on energy will also be signed in the course of the visit. Sonjica was herself in Caracas only last month, where the mooted agreements were progressed.

There are many other topics of bilateral interest in economic and trade relations to be discussed, and multilateral matters as well, given the local interest in developing closer relations with the Latin American block of countries.

There will also be talks about the reform of the UN Security Council, Pahad told a media briefing on Friday, and the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Aligning positions in multilateral forums such as the Non-aligned Movement and the G7 plus China group of countries will be discussed.

AFP