Pretoria - Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe says South Africa stands ready to do business with Gabon.
Speaking at the end of the Investment and Trade Initiative Mission in Libreville, Gabon, on Thursday, Thabethe said economic opportunities between the two countries do exist.
The investment mission comprised a business delegation with representatives from various sectors of the economy, with the aim of deepening economic cooperation and stimulating trade and investment in Gabon and Cameroon, which Thabethe visited earlier.
The mission aimed to stimulate trade and investment within the agricultural, mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, infrastructure and ICT sectors.
According to Thabethe, the Cameroon-Gabon mission has already started yielding rewards.
"Our hard work ... is already producing results. Loganathan Moodley of Fullimpit, a South African construction company, is currently concluding a deal to build an Engen filling station in Gabon with Capital Construction a Gabonese company.
"And also the joint partnership of Nomvula Twala (Reyakopele Construction) and Nomshado Madonsela (Basadi Civil Construction) are also finalising a brick manufacturing deal with a Gabonese company. I can only wish that these outcomes will lead to even more lucrative partnerships," she said.
Thabethe has also urged South African and Gabonese businesspeople to give meaning to agreements concluded between the two countries, by increasing bilateral trade.
"Businesspeople from South Africa and Gabon need to work together to give meaning to agreements that we have signed. These are the Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investment Agreement." - SAnews.gov.za
