The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe will lead a business delegation consisting of business people from various sectors of the economy on a sector specific business mission to Cameroon and Gabon from tomorrow 30 September to 9 October 2012, with the aim of deepening economic cooperation and stimulating trade and investment among the three countries, specifically within agriculture, mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, infrastructure and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
According to Deputy Minister Thabethe, the mission is a culmination of a series of bilateral engagements that emanated from the Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Economic and Technical Cooperation that was ratified in May 2009.
“It is from this premise that we have been working tirelessly to ensure that economic cooperation between ourselves and our partner countries is elevated to another level,” she said.
“This mission will see us traverse both the Cameroonian and Gabonese economic landscape, presenting South African businesses with an opportunity to explore trade and investment opportunities that exist, through off-site as well as on-site business-to-business meetings. There will also be an exploration of business opportunities with the intent of accelerating South Africa’s exports to Gabon and Cameroon. And issues surrounding the terms of reference for the implementation of the Bilateral Trade Agreement and follow-up on the ratification of the signed agreements will be concluded,” she added.
“Both missions are informed by the desire to stimulate trade and investments between these two countries and South Africa. Our strategy is to have the two countries falling within the top five of our trading partners in the Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) region. Through such engagements it is envisaged that local business people will act vigorously to grasp trade and investment opportunities that are available in both countries,” concluded Thabethe.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 079 492 1774
Tel: 012 394 1650
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
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