Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has explained to Members of Parliament (MPs) the importance of foreign trips undertaken by government and the long term investment opportunities it will have on the South African economy.
"We prefer to view the expenditure on these visits not as cost but as an investment in building relations that will help us meet our political, social and economic relations," Zuma said in his reply to a Parliamentary question on Wednesday.
Zuma, who has been on a diplomatic blitz, has come under fire for spending his time on international trips and taking a large contingent of government ministers on these trips.
Most of Zuma's official visits were on the African content, and according to the President this was because African countries in general, have a huge potential to become South Africa's major trading partners, given their endowment in natural and mineral resources.
One of South Africa's main foreign policy goals, he said, was to ensure that the country's foreign relations contribute to the creation of an environment conducive for economic growth and development, especially in Africa and other developing countries.
The President said the expansion of this foreign trade, especially with Africa would also improve the quality of life of all South Africans.
"It must enable us to grow our economy and contribute to the creation of decent work, improved health care and education, rural development, safer communities, social security and other priorities of this government," Zuma told MPs.
To date, in Africa, Zuma undertook outgoing state visits to Angola, Lesotho, Zambia and Uganda. Outside the continent, he has undertaken state and official visits to the United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Explaining the costs, Zuma said they become minimal as the host country usually extends courtesies to the visiting South African delegation, meeting the accommodation and ground transport costs of the President and a certain number of delegates, as per standard international practice among states.
"We estimate the investment in the Angola State visit to having been in the region of more than three million rand, Zambia at more than two hundred thousand rand and Lesotho to more than half a million rand," he said, adding that they "invested" more than a million rand on the Ugandan visit.
Information pertaining to the expenditure of the visits to China, Russia and India is not yet available, Zuma said.
During these visits Zuma signed several important agreements and MoUs, in various fields such as education, trade and investment, technology, roads, railways, ports, power generation, airports and housing, among others.
This includes the historic comprehensive strategic partnership agreement which will guide South Africa's overall interaction with China - the world's second-largest economy- over the next 10 to 15 years.
Explaining the criteria of choosing the business representatives who were invited to state visits, Zuma said the decision lay with business themselves.
Most political analysts and economists have commended Zuma's moves, saying it showed that the country's foreign policy was shifting towards the economic needs of the country.
