South Africa wants to learn from Indian experience in housing

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) South African Housing Minister Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu today said it wants to learn from Indian's long experience in housing and removal of urban unemployment and poverty.

Speaking to mediaperosns after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Minister for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Ms Selja for cooperation in Housing and Human Settlement, she said, ''India and South Africa face common challenges, so there is ample scope for my country to learn from India.'' Dr Sisulu said both the countries have faced long period of colonial rule, so they have a lot of problems in common.

''Since India got rid of the colonial rule long ago and embarked on a path of development and poverty alleviation, South Africa would like to make use of its experince in these fields,'' she added.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Selja said she visited South Africa last year and saw a lot of similarities between the two countries.

Both face housing problems, especially for the poor, she added.

Like In India, millions of people in South African too live in slums, she said, adding both the countries can learn a lot from each other.

The cooperation would include technical matters, exchange of experts and capacity building and working with a coordinated approach at international fora like the UN Habitata, UN Commission for Sustainable Development, UN General Assembly, World Urban Forum and the World Bank.

Both the countries also agreed to set up technical teams for exploring and identifying areas of cooperation and organise meetings and seminars to tap new knowledge and experinece.

The MoU will remain in force for two years subject to further renewal.

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