RIYADH: The Kingdom and South Africa held wide-ranging talks that discussed the importance of bilateral cooperation in the atomic and renewable energy sector, including strategic plans to utilize alternative energy.

Hashim Abdullah Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), met here on Sunday with Tseliso Maqubela, deputy director general of the Ministry of Energy of South Africa, who was on visit to the Kingdom with the delegation accompanying President Jacob Zuma.

President Zuma and his accompanying delegation left Riyadh on Sunday evening.

“During the meeting the two leaders discussed various ways of joint cooperation between the two countries in the atomic and renewable energy sector,” said the K.A.CARE media department on Monday.

They also discussed mutual cooperation in the sphere of alternative energy, and utilization thereof, in the production of electricity.

The meeting was also attended by KACARE Vice President Waleed Husain Abu Alfaraj and a number of officials from both sides.

Notably, KACARE is working closely with government agencies including the Ministry of Transportation, Saudi Electricity Company, Saudi Wildlife Authority and the directorate general of military survey to step up work on an atlas of atomic and renewable energy in order to achieve its Vision 2032, which aims to replace 50 percent of the dependence on traditional fossil fuel with eco-friendly renewable energy sources.

The Kingdom has also signed atomic cooperation agreements with France, South Korea, China, Argentina, Russia and Finland.