London
6 December 2006
Pretoria: South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will depart
for Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday, 6 December 2006, where she is scheduled
to pay a working visit to Edinburgh and London, scheduled from Thursday, 7 to
Sunday, 10 December 2006.
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka's visit to Scotland and United Kingdom (UK)
comes within the context of South Africa's priority to ensure a faster and
shared economic growth through strategic partnership with countries of the
North
In this context, the visit is aimed at increasing international
understanding and support for the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA) and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition
(JIPSA) while exploring linkages with international education institutions
and/or international education experts.
Edinburgh, Scotland (Thursday to Friday, 7 to 8 December 2006)
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka is scheduled to hold discussions with the First
Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, on Friday, 8 December 2006.
While in Scotland, Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka is also expected to
deliver a keynote address at the âGoing Global 2: The UK's International
Education Conferenceâ, meet with Scottish investors and Vice Chancellors of
Edinburgh and other Universities in the area.
London, United Kingdom (Saturday to Sunday, 9 to 10 December 2006)
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka will participate in a Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) roundtable. The BPO has been identified as a priority sector
for AsgiSA. Over 50 BPO captains of industry will attend the event. The UK
remains one of the leading sources of potential BPO direct investment into
South Africa.
While in London Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka is also expected to hold
discussions with representatives of Cape Diamonds Plc, Standard Chartered Bank,
Barclays Bank and academic institutions.
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka is expected to return to South Africa on
Monday 11 December 2006.
Bilateral economic relations
The bilateral trade relations between the two countries have shown an upward
trend over the years. It reached 27.8 billion pounds sterling in 2004. In
addition, there is a healthy flow of investment in both directions. The
United Kingdom remains the largest foreign investor in South Africa and over
200 South African companies have established a presence in the UK.
For the first time ever, South Africa is in surplus in terms of its visible
trade with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is considered and ranked as
South Africa's second biggest export trading partner. Over the past few years
the bilateral trade balance between the two countries has shown a
steady rise.
The top five export commodities from the United Kingdom to South Africa are:
Non-metallic minerals, office machines, road vehicles, telecommunications and
sound recording and reproducing apparatus as well as medicinal and
pharmaceutical products.
South Africa's top five export commodities to the United Kingdom are:
Non-metallic minerals, coal, coke and briquettes, road vehicles, vegetables and
fruit, and non-ferrous metals. The decline in British exports has been
attributed to the strength of sterling, which has hit British export companies.
As a result more British companies are looking at joint ventures, arrangements
to manufacture under license, or both.
The United Kingdom's Trade and Industry Department is actively encouraging
direct investment (currently R144 billion) and joint ventures in South Africa
in an attempt to counter the declining British exports to South Africa.
The general aim of this policy is to use South Africa as Regional Hub to
export to Africa and Asia. The SA/UK small business partnership programme was
launched in 2000. This programme aims to develop business partnership between
the UK and South African companies owned and managed by previously
disadvantaged groups. Funds from British Trade International and the EU are
supporting the programme. Over 50% of total South African exports to the United
Kingdom are either precious metals or âunclassified goodsâ.
With about 12 billion pounds worth of investment in South Africa, Britain
holds the greatest amount of total foreign investment stock in South Africa,
and the acquisition by Barclays of a majority share in ABSA was the largest
foreign investment into South Africa ever. British companies employ more than
40% of all those employed by foreign firms. Nine of the top twenty foreign
companies in SA are British. It has recently emerged that South Africa is the
top commonwealth provider of teachers to the UK, with 4700 teachers having left
for the UK since 2001, helping to avert an educational catastrophe in
Britain.
South African exports to the United Kingdom (ZAR'000):
2005: 32,377,308
2003: 24,170,332
2002: 27,568,126
The UK is South Africa's 2nd largest export market with an annual growth of
16% between 2004 and 2005.
South African imports from the United Kingdom (ZAR'000)
2005: 20,129,842
2004: 21,125,373
2003: 22,596,969
2002: 25,117,075
Between 2004 and 2005, South Africa's imports from the United Kingdom
declined by -4.7%.
Tourism
South Africa is regarded as a world-class tourist destination by British
tourists. The United Kingdom is by far our most significant source of
(non-African) tourists, a position it has not relinquished for the past 15
years.
According to SA Tourism, the number of tourists from the United Kingdom,
from January to October 2002, amounts to 338 853.
In 2004, a total of 456 368 British tourists visited South Africa and the
latest statistics indicate that the figure for 2005 increased to 469 599.
Enquiries: Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
6 December 2006
