Davies to build ties with Turkey, Saudi

Johannesburg - Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies is to travel to Turkey to co-chair the second session of the Turkey-South Africa Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting, which is aimed at promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Minister Davies will be accompanied by delegation comprising government officials and business executives. The delegation will participate in the South Africa-Turkey Business Forum which will include break-away sessions and business to business meetings with their Turkish counterparts, his department said in a statement.

During Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's visit to Turkey in 2010, and the subsequent visit by the Prime Minister of Turkey to SA, the two countries agreed to facilitate increased closer collaboration between the business communities of the two countries.

Currently economic relations between the two countries are governed by the South Africa-Turkey JEC. The JEC was established in accordance with Article 11 of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement between South Africa and Turkey. The 1st session of the SA-Turkey JEC took place in Pretoria in 2008.

It is expected that at the end of the JEC meeting, a communiqué will be signed which will outline the plan on further expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

From Turkey Davies will travel to Saudi Arabia where he will meet with his counterpart Dr Tawfeeq Al Rabeeah, the Minister of Commerce and Industry and Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Gusaibi, Minister of Economy and Planning, as well as other key private sector players.

Davies's visit to Saudi Arabia will, focus on the the status of the bilateral trade between SA and Saudi Arabia including Foreign Direct Investment and fast-tracking discussions towards the conclusion of the pending Bilateral Investment Treaty and Trade Cooperation Agreements between the two countries.

He will also discuss expediting the sitting of the Joint Economic Cooperation between the two countries and engage with his counterpart on various issues pertaining to trade and investments and engaging with relevant stakeholders to identify critical areas of technical and institutional support, among other issues.