Pretoria - South Africa wants to expand its product footprint and bring business to Russia as it wants to be part of the developments taking place in the region, says Ambassador of South Africa to Russia, Mandisi Mpahlwa.
Mpahlwa was speaking at the business seminar held in the capital of Siberian region, Novosibirsk, in Russia.
The seminar, which was attended by both South African and Russian businesspeople in the sector of agriculture and food production, was part of the second leg of the Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) currently underway in Russia.
According to Mpahlwa, this ITI, is the first to be held in the Novosibirsk and was surely the beginning of others to come.
“This trade mission is important because it is a culmination of the work that we have been doing to expand our footprint in the vast areas of the Russian Federation, because we understand that the future of Russia is in the regions,” he said.
He assured potential buyers from Russia of the credibility of the companies that the dti had brought to the ITI.
He told them that the selection process had ensured that their products were of good quality, that they had export experience and potential.
The Novosibirsk regional administration Minister of Industry, Trade and Entrepreneurship, Nikolay Simonov, said South Africa was known to Russians as a well-developed economy which rated among the first in the world market.
He highlighted that South Africa was known for having abundant agricultural products.
“We need additional supplies to expand and meet our goals and hope that the South African products will be competitive in the local market,” he added.
Novosibirsk, which is the logistics hub of the Siberian region, has a population of about 2.8 million people and is recorded in the Guinness Book of records as the fastest growing city.
It currently imports 5% of its food and agricultural products.
Bilateral trade between South Africa and Russia increased by over 46% in 2013.
The increase was largely due to growth in imports from Russia which more than doubled to R3.6 billion caused by a sharp rise in major commodities that include minerals, chemicals and metal products.
Fresh fruits remained the most important export product for South Africa to Russia, and better harvest in early 2013 resulted in a 35% growth in value of exports.
Another significant growth was experienced in exports of wine products which grew by 44% in 2013. - SAnews.gov.za
