Foreign Affairs Minister, Mayiik Ayii Deng is pictured with the U.S President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the reception of the African leaders in Washington DC on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: Adam Schultz/White House).

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs says the government is expecting improved relations with the Biden administration in the areas of trade and technological advancement.

Currently, the United States has no significant trade agreement with South Sudan.

However, Deng Dau Deng said the government is trying to mend relations with Washington in the areas of mutual interests.

“Like the rest of the African countries, we expect to improve our bilateral relations with the United States in areas of trade, cooperation, and exchange of technology and other areas of mutual interests,” he told Eye Radio at the back of the US-Africa Sumit.

“We have the US embassy in Juba which is based here and we have opened up for dialogue for us to be able to improve our relations with the United States of America.”

“Using the presence of their Ambassador, and this has shown that soon after the appointment of the [US] Ambassador to South Sudan, we appreciated that the United States of America want to scale up the relation,” said Deng.

The Summit, held from December 13th to 15th in Washington DC, discussed efforts to strengthen ties with African partners based on principles of mutual respect and shared interests and values.

It also served as an opportunity to listen to and collaborate with African counterparts on key areas the United States and Africa define as critical for the future of the continent and the global community.

The summit featured topics ranging from trade and investment; to health and climate change; to peace, security, and governance; to space cooperation.

It also focused on increasing two-way trade and investment, food security and food systems resilience.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng is in the U.S. to represent President Salva Kiir.

“Therefore the presence of the foreign minister indicated that South Sudan is ready to talk and to improve the relation with Washington.”

US President Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to deepen and expand partnership with African countries to better meet the shared challenges and opportunities of this era.

50 African countries, including more than ten heads of state attended the summit.

The United States played a key role in helping create the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that laid the groundwork for the 2011 referendum on self-determination, through which South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted for independence.

The U.S. government is also the leading international donor to South Sudan, providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

Through its development agency – USAID, it provides support in the areas of nutrition support, emergency water and sanitation interventions, health care, and education.