The South African government has urged Russian companies to increase their investments in the country in a bid to increase foreign direct investment and strengthen economic partnership between the two BRICS countries.
Speaking during the South Africa-Russia Business Council in Pretoria on Thursday, the deputy director-general of trade and investment at the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Pumla Ncapayi, said there was greater potential for trade gains with Russia, particularly in the identified sectors.
Ncapayi said Russia was South Africa’s key strategic trading partner within the Integrated National Export Strategy.
South African exports increased from R2.1 billion in 2011 to R3.7 billion in 2015, reflecting an annual average growth of 16 percent.
“We therefore call upon Russian enterprises to take advantage of these opportunities for investment presented by the industrial reform of our economy in order to increase the level of Foreign Direct Investment which will further strengthen our economic partnership,” Ncapayi said.
“To attract further investment in value-added manufacturing sectors in close proximity to the source of raw materials, South Africa has established Special Economic Zones which offer unparalleled opportunities for Russian investment.”
Ncapayi said South Africa had successfully attracted investment from large Russian multinationals and the alignment of this investment to the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) was most welcome as it contributed to South Africa’s goals of industrialisation.
Similarly, Ncapayi said South African companies had invested in strategic sectors within the Russian economy.
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