The Trade and Industry Minister participated in the 7th meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Trade in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (China) from 01 to 02 August.
South Africa has strong and growing trade and investment ties with the other BRICS members, particularly China and India. As a single country, China has been South Africa’s top-ranking export destination as well as import supplier since 2009. In 2016, intra-BRICS exports amounted to the equivalent of R4 trillion. China accounted for 40%, India for 27%, Russia for 16%, Brazil for 10%, and South Africa for 7% of this.
In 2016, South Africa’s exports destined to BRICS countries amounted to R156 billion, while its imports from these four partners came to R273 billion. In 2015/16, intra-BRICS investment amounted to R554 billion. South Africa received R34.5 billion from investors in these countries, while making investments there amounting to R22.6 billion.
The BRICS Trade Ministers discussed a number of issues relating to trade and investment promotion. They established collaborative mechanisms among BRICS countries which are aimed at encouraging information sharing and capacity building through activities such as expert dialogues and workshops, and building a common understanding on among others e-port network, investment facilitation, trade in services, e-commerce, intellectual property rights. The key objective is to promote a better understanding of the regulatory framework, share best practices and promote practical cooperation with a view to enhancing trade and investment.
BRICS countries have also agreed to promote technical cooperation and capacity building, and cooperation in multilateral forums such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
South Africa will be chairing BRICS in 2018. The Trade and Industry Minister emphasised the need to take stock of trade and investment-related initiatives in recent years and ensure that there was follow-though on those.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Trade and Industry Minister met with his Chinese counterpart and agreed to enhance bilateral trade relations between the two countries, including promoting value-added trade as well as promoting Chinese investments in South Africa’s industrial sector.