Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx have renewed their cooperation on all modes of transportation partnership that includes land, air, and sea infrastructure development.

Minister Peters and Foxx signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) which deals with all modes of transport, with an additional emphasis on women empowerment in the sector at the Johannesburg Park Station, on Monday.

Minister Peters said the transportation partnership with the Americans will help to establish a working relationship with regard to aviation training facilities as well as opening up solutions for driver training, more especially for women.

Speaking before signing the MoC, Secretary Foxx said: “We are here to further strengthen our countries cooperation on transportation areas that will help improve the lives our people. As the US, we are committed to doing business in Africa, we want to build economic partnerships that will result in creating more jobs in South Africa and across the continent.

“I feel proud to announce that I’m the first US Secretary to be chosen to lead this partnership following the growing economies of the African continent and also the growing need to infrastructure investments”.

Foxx said his country is also committed to help not only South Africa, but the Sub-Saharan Africa region to build roads and bridges in order to unlock more economic opportunities.

“We are committed to nation and regional building and it is our view that more women will be part of all our major transportation projects,” he said, adding that in the US, 10% of civil engineers are women.

The MoC between the two countries was initiated by former Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele and former US Assistant Secretary of Transportation, Susan Kurlan, four years ago.