Pretoria - Ministers from South Africa and Sweden will on Thursday meet to assess the state of relations between the two countries.
The high level meeting will be attended by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Trade and Industry Rob Davies, National Planning Trevor Manuel and the Deputy Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene.
Together with their counterparts from Sweden, they will also exchange views on developments on the African continent and the multilateral arena.
The Swedish delegation will also pay a courtesy call on Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday.
Sweden is one of the important investors in South Africa, with more than 100 companies creating around 30 000 jobs.
“During the period 2003 to 2013, Sweden invested in 14 projects in South Africa across a range of sectors, with total capital investment estimated to the tune of R2.04 billion, creating over 1807 jobs,” said International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson, Clayson Monyela.
Historically, bilateral relations between South Africa and Sweden -- which are managed through the Bi-national Commission (BNC), co-chaired at the level of Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister -- are strong.
The BNC covers the areas of foreign affairs, trade and investment, ICT, energy and vocational education.
A large percentage of Sweden’s investments were directed to automotive, manufacturing, design and development. However, it is also an important export market for the South African wine industry, with South Africa being the second largest exporter of wine to Sweden.
In addition, Sweden is a source of long-haul tourism market for South Africa. In 2012, more than 40 000 Swedish tourists visited South Africa. - SAnews.gov.za
