The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Mr. Lejone Mpotjoane has revealed that Lesotho and the United Arab Emirates are working on establishing relations for economic development.

This the Minister is reported to have discussed with his UAE counterpart while attending the UN summit in New York this week.

In a telephonic interview with LENA, Mr. Mpotjoane said some of the benefits which were discussed in this bilateral meeting with his United Arab Emirates counterpart include the supply of water by Lesotho to the UAE and the generation of energy through water and the sun by Lesotho with the support of UAE.

He added that some of the opportunities discussed include the creation of job opportunities for Basotho in the UAE in terms of exchange programs.

He mentioned that they also discussed the support the UAE is expected to offer to Lesotho in the mining industry and the cooperation between the two countries regarding aviation projects.

Mr. Mpotjoane said to seal these opportunities, they agreed with his counterparts to begin negotiations with each country’s officials and experts to see for the implementation of the proposed opportunities.

Lesotho through the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations and the Minister of Health are currently attending the United Nations Spotlight initiative against Gender Based Violence summit.

In this summit, Lesotho was nominated as one of the countries allowed to present a report of the country’s progress on GBV issues, commit and also invite the UN countries to support her (Lesotho) in the fight against GBV.

Source: LENA 18/08/2023