DAR ES SALAAM, June 10 (Xinhua)– Tanzania and Botswana on Thursday pledged to strengthen bilateral relations for the benefit of the peoples in the two countries.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi made the pledge when they addressed a joint press conference at the State House in Tanzanian commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Speaking at the start of a two-day official visit to Tanzania by President Masisi, the two leaders said they held fruitful talks in which they directed their ministers of foreign affairs to meet in three months’ time and find ways of reviving the two countries’ Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) which was formed in 2002 and met for the last time in 2009.

They said a revived JPC will help in reinvigorating areas of cooperation between the two countries, both members of the Southern African Development Community.

President Hassan said the two leaders agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade and investment that stood at 3.5 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) in 2020.

“The trade volume statistics calls for more improvement,” said Hassan, adding that Tanzania will send a team of experts to Botswana to learn about how the southern African country excels in diamond mining and exports.

She added that investments from Botswana in Tanzania are worth 231.01 million dollars and have created 2,128 jobs for Tanzanians.

For his part, President Masisi said the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas, including education and political collaboration.

“We have agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas from defense, security, sports, climate change, agriculture, tourism, livestock and COVID-19,” he said.