The STI cooperation between the EU and South Africa as originally framed by the South Africa-EU Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement and as constantly steered by the JSTCC requires a support mechanism which can translate and facilitate policy decisions, and provide intelligence and information services to various actors and stakeholders. In previous years the ESASTAP project series (ESASTAP, ESASTAP-2 and ESASTAP+) has successfully provided this support to the bilateral dialogue. The proposed ESASTAP 2020 project is a coordination and support action that aims at advancing further the EU-SA bilateral STI cooperation, building on the work and results of three preceding actions and responding to the needs and recommendations at the policy dialogue level, in particular to the mandate of the JSTCC and to the adopted Roadmap for cooperation between South Africa and the European Union. The project aims to provide efficient services on three levels (priority areas): a. R&I Cooperation in areas of common interests (Horizon 2020 and others). b. Policy Dialogue between EU and SA and by increasing the knowledge of the EU’s external environment. c. Provision of a Cooperation platform and tools to alleviate obstacles. These priority areas translate into four major objectives through which the project is aiming to address the specific challenges of the call.