The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) will lead a business delegation on Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Lusaka, Zambia.
The dti will lead 20 local companies that it has funded on the investment mission that gets underway on Monday.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the mission will help the department with contributing towards South Africa’s objectives of regional integration by strengthening economic relations between the two countries.
The mission also aims to advance the commitments made in December 2016 by the Heads of State of both countries during the state visit to South Africa by President Edgar Lungu of Zambia, where both countries agreed to deepen bilateral trade and investment relations.
Zambia is one of South Africa’s top five trade partners in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region with total bilateral trade amounting to R33 billion in 2016.
“Platforms of this nature afford us the opportunity to not only consolidate political ties but also to create the much-needed value-chains, skills and technology transfer and employment generation required to give effect to our economic ambitions, both in South Africa and Zambia,” said Minister Davies on Friday.
The Minister said the mission will further enable South African companies to interact with leading private sector entities from agro-processing, agribusiness; infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, energy, services, tourism infrastructure development and mining and capital equipment.
“The mission will also present an ideal platform for South African companies who would like to export value-added products, and services as well as companies which are looking for joint-venture partnerships in Zambia,” said Minister Davies.
In addition, South Africa is also committed to increasing trade and addressing the trade imbalance with the landlocked southern African country.
The mission will be addressed by the South African High Commissioner to Zambia Sikose Mji and the Zambian High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba, amongst others.
The programme for the mission that will conclude on Tuesday will comprise of a trade and investment seminar, business-to-business meetings, round-table discussions and sector-specific site visits. – SAnews.gov.za
