South African enterprises seek Vietnamese opportunities

Their diverse fields of operations cover food and beverage, agriculture products, water treatment, construction materials, as well as stainless steel and wire production.

Kgomotso Ruth Magau, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Vietnam, said that, “South Africa not only realises the considerable importance of establishing a favourable trade relationship with Vietnam, but also views Vietnam as a staunch and long standing ally. Over many years, our relationship has culminated into a steady exchange of diplomatic cooperation as well as the acceptance of bilateral agreements.”

South Africa and Vietnam have strengthened cooperation in environment, science and technology as well as many other areas, especially after the two sides inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in December 2012, the action programme on wild animal protection in June 2013, and an MoU on science and technology in June 2015.

The trade turnover between Vietnam and South Africa tops Vietnam’s relations with African countries. Over the past decade, the total bilateral trade volume between the two countries has more than quintupled, from $192 million in 2007 to $920 million in 2013, with a jump to $1.2 billion in 2015. South Africa is a gateway to Africa, giving Vietnamese goods better access to the region.

“There has been a joint trade commission from Vietnam to South Africa in June, which lay down the basis for continued collaboration in the future. Vietnam and South Africa have set the target to achieve $3 billion in bilateral trade by 2020. This business delegation from South Africa to Vietnam is our first step to bolster the trade relationship between our two countries,” Magau added.