The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mzwandile Masina and his Vietnamese counterpart, Mr Do Thang Hai will hold a bilateral meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday, 8 June 2016 to discuss bilateral trade and investment relations between the two countries.
The meeting forms part of the two-day programme of the third session of South Africa-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee (JTC) that begins with a meeting of senior officials from both countries on June 7. The session will be co-chaired by the two deputy ministers.
“As the leadership of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) we are looking forward to this important visit by the Vietnamese delegation. The visit provides us with an opportunity to exchange ideas on a variety of issues that will lead us to increasing trade and investment between the two countries,” says Deputy Minister Masina.
He adds that although total trade between South Africa and Vietnam has increased from R3.7 billion in 2010 to R18.4 billion last year, there was trade balance of R13.8 billion in favour of Vietnam.
“The trade imbalance indicates that opportunities beckon for the SA companies to export more value-added products to the Vietnamese market which boasts a population of 93.4 million people. We will use the meeting with the Vietnamese delegation next week to discuss ways and means of addressing the imbalance as we explore opportunities to further increase trade between the two countries.
We will also discuss opportunities that can assist us increase the level of investments between our countries,” adds Masina.
Last year, the dti led a delegation of businesspeople on an Outward Selling and Investment Mission (OSIM) to Vietnam. The mission formed part of the department’s objectives of identifying and creating export markets for South African value-added products and services and to promote South Africa as a trade and investment destination.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
