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Johannesburg - Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies will leave for Saudi Arabia on Sunday to co-chair the 6th session of the South Africa/Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission (JEC) with his Saudi counterpart Dr Twafeeq Al Rabeeach.
The JEC is an initiative agreed upon between the two countries in order to strengthen economic ties, to attract foreign direct investment from Saudi Arabia into South Africa in targeted sectors and to promote sound business-to-business cooperation.
Davies said in a statement the JEC will be preceded by the South Africa-Saudi Arabia Business Forum that will be attended by business people from both countries.
He said, although South Africa’s exports to Saudi improved last year, the trade deficit is still in the Saudi favour.
READ: SA dependence on oil imports growing
South Africa’s exports to Saudi Arabia showed an increase from R2.6bn in 2013 to R4.7bn in 2014, reflected by an annual growth of 80.62% in 2014.
"The export trend with an average growth of 20.42% from 2010 to 2014 was overcome by a strong upward import trend that recorded a continuous increase in imports at an average growth of 39.22% in the same period. South Africa’s imports showed a sharp increase from R23.6bn in 2010 to R77.3bn in 2014,” said Davies.
During the 5th session of the JEC, both countries expressed their satisfaction with the significant growth of the trade and agreed to utilise all means to enhance further growth.
The meeting agreed promoting and developing aspects of co-operation in the fields of oil, gas and minerals through participation in conferences and specialised seminars in both countries.
READ: Saudis claw back market share with oil output
The two sides finalised a draft of a Technical Co-operation Programme (TCP) between the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation (Saso) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).
The South African delegation includes senior government officials and business people.
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