South Africa is a perfect partner for access into the African continent. That is according to Muneo Kurauchi, a Senior Managing Executive Officer at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). He was addressing a crowd of about 300 executives who attended the final leg of three investment seminars hosted in three cities of Japan by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and the bank.
The seminars are part of the implementation plan envisaged by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the dti and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, MUFG in February 2013.
Kurauchi said that the partnership they have with South Africa, will serve as a bridge that will connect Japanese corporations to the African continent, using South Africa as a gate way. He was "very pleased" and pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming turnout and saw this as a sign of the renewed interest on the part of Japanese companies in doing business in Africa.
The Deputy Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry, Ms Pumla Ncapayi, reiterated that South Africa is not a gate keeper to the African continent.
‘I think we must emphasise the point that South Africa is not a gate keeper to the African continent. It is a gateway because of the services that it offers, such as infrastructure as well as financial services that can be considered when establishing a presence in the African continent,’ said Ncapayi.
Ncapayi invited Japanese companies to invest in South Africa, saying that South Africans pride themselves in being part of the next big story after the largest economies in the world: China and India.
She told the investors that South Africa is not a member of BRICS because of the size of its population.
‘We do acknowledge and take cognisance of the fact that we are not in BRICS because of our population, but by virtue of what we can offer, the meaningful discussions and participation that we can accord into the world economy, as well as amongst BRICS countries,’ alluded Ncapayi.
The Chairperson of SUN ACE Corporation, Mr Ryo Sasaki which has been operating in South Africa for 17 years, assured the Japanese companies that South Africa is a sound investment destination. SUN ACE is a manufacturer of specialty chemicals and entered the market on a joint venture partnership driven by their company's localisation strategy. “Our move to South Africa was a good move, as it has given us access to the Sub-Sahara market’’ added Sasaki. SUN ACE is one of the 108 Japanese companies that are doing business in South Africa and as a collective they employ just over 150 000 people.
The three investment seminars were aimed at increasing Foreign Direct Investments from Japan to South Africa by creating awareness of opportunities in South Africa and conveying critical aspects of SA's business climate.
The seminars have already delivered results with delegates commenting on the fact that they "cleared up” a number of negative perceptions" they had about the country. Other comments were related to size of the market "within the context of the region" and the generous incentives and support that the South African government is willing to offer. The officials from the dti and the Bank received requests from participants for assistance with developing their business case for South Africa.
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