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RIYADH: The Saudi-South African joint committee seeks to further enhance cooperation by increasing bilateral investments in mutually beneficial sectors that include energy, mining, agricultural produce, food processing and finished products.
Headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, a Saudi delegation participated in the seventh session of the Saudi-South African joint committee that concluded on Tuesday in Cape Town, an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said here on Wednesday.
He said that at the end of the joint business council meeting joint minutes were signed by Al-Rabiah and South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies.
The minutes included a number of recommendations and proposals for bilateral cooperation in the economic, trade, investment, technical and cultural fields.
Commenting on the joint meeting Al-Rabiah said, “We encourage more investment from our side into South Africa and welcome investment from South Africa into the Kingdom.”
On his part Davies said, “We should continually strive to make it even more effective by addressing any shortcoming there may be in addressing our relations, and to this end frequent exchanges and visits between business delegations of our two countries need to be encouraged.”
The Saudi delegation also sought active cooperation in the mining sector to tap into South Africa’s expertise and technology in this field as the Kingdom is keen in economic diversification and is working on exploiting its rich mining and mineral resources.
Notably, gold and diamond mining are the mainstay of the South African economy as the key sector is an important foreign exchange earner with gold accounting for more than one-third of their exports.
Significantly, a South African trade mission will visit the Kingdom in August with South Africa lending support in terms of its knowledge of mining.
As the joint meeting sought increased bilateral investments in various sectors, South Africa is expecting more trade with the Kingdom.
South African media reported on Wednesday that increased trade ties between the two countries will be on the agenda when President Jacob Zuma travels to the Kingdom later this month on a state visit accompanied by a business delegation.
During this joint committee trip, the two trade ministers also inaugurated the Bokpoort concentrated solar power project, which was developed by Saudi consortium ACWA Power in Northern Cape Province.
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