Deputy Minister Gina Concludes Visit to China Aimed at Wooing Investors and Promoting Trade |
| The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Nomalungelo Gina has completed a three-day visit to China, which she used to promote South Africa as an attractive investment destination and to strengthen bilateral relations between South Africa and the East Asian world economic powerhouse.
Gina’s programme of activities started with the opening ceremony of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) by the Chinese President Xi Jinping where she interacted with leaders of delegations of the more than 150 countries that are participating in the expo. A group of more than 20 business representatives from South Africa is participating in the expo, which ends on Sunday, 10 November 2019. After the opening ceremony, Gina represented South Africa in the Informal World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Meeting where she had an opportunity to address the delegates. Gina told the gathering that the reform of the WTO should be about reform for development and inclusivity. “The key objective for South Africa and Africa is to industrialise in order to change the structure of our economies and move up the value-chain. We would therefore be concerned with any reform agenda that limits our policy space to achieve these objectives,” emphasised Gina. A day after the WTO event Gina addressed the opening ceremony of the South African Pavillion at the CIIE where she emphasised the deepening of economic relations and increasing of bilateral trade between South Africa and China. “We brought the cream of the crop when it comes to the South African products that our companies are showcasing here. We are optimistic that the products will attract the attention of the Chinese importers, as this will contribute in an increase in the exports of the South African manufactured products to China, and in increasing trade between the countries. The expo is also an opportunity for us to attract investors to come to our country,” said Gina. A media briefing followed the opening ceremony where Gina fielded questions from journalists. She reiterated to journalists that South Africa’s participation in the CIIE was important in strengthening relations with the China and in increasing trade between the two countries. Later in the day, Gina addressed the Economic and Trade for China, Africa and Latin America Cooperation conference, which took place on the sidelines of the CIIE. She told delegates that the event coincided with SA’s second investment conference. She emphasised that the conference sent a clear message to the world that SA was open for business and that there were many opportunities for investors in SA. Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ECBC) hosted the event Gina concluded her visit with a keynote speech at the Hunan-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum whose objectives was to provide a platform for the South African businesspeople to market their companies and products to the Chinese importers and investors. “I urge businesspeople from China and Africa to explore opportunities provided by the eight initiatives that were announced by the Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing last year, as a means of collaboration with the African Continent. These are industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, healthcare, people-to-people exchange, and peace and security,” said Gina.
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