Zuma woos Dubai businessmen

Source: Fin24, 01/04/2016

Zuma woos Dubai businessmen
Mar 28 2016 – Fin24
Cape Town - South Africa has put in place laws and policies to help
businesses thrive in the country, President Jacob Zuma told the United
Arab Emirates business community on his official visit to the Gulf state.
South Africa is open for business - thriving business, he told the
business community in a prepared speech on Monday.
"I can assure you that our government will do everything humanely
possible to help your businesses thrive in South Africa."
Zuma's visit to UAE follows a weekend stint in Saudi Arabia where he
cemented business and political ties with the Saudi kingdom.
He told the members of the UAE business community South Africa last
year outlined nine immediate priority areas to stimulate economic growth.

Among these is the expanded beneficiation of the country's minerals
and the development of the ocean economy, "something in which the UAE
has registered significant progress".
"We therefore invite you to invest in our Operation Phakisa, and
partner us as we turn our vast sea waters into an engine of growth."
Another area he highlighted for economic growth is South Africa's
attractive tourism sector. He assured potential travelers that the
government is working on the challenges caused by the newly-introduced
amendments to South Africa's visa regulations.
Zuma noted that since his last visit to the UAE in 2011 total trade
between South Africa and the Arab country increased sharply from
$1.8bn to more than $2.2bn in 2015.
Major South African exports to the UAE include base metals and allied
products, steel for construction and general engineering, machinery,
electronics, minerals, defence equipment, chemicals, plastic goods,
and food stuffs. Seventy per cent of South Africa's imports from the
UAE consist of crude oil.

Other exports to South Africa include machinery, transportation
equipment, consumer electronics, home appliances, computer accessories
and textiles.

Zuma said he believes the growing trade relationship between the two
countries can be further expanded to other sectors.

"The excellent air links between our two countries position us to
further enhance our trade, especially in fresh produce."
He pointed to a vegetable planting project in the Dube Trade Port near
the King Shaka International Airport in Durban that can be exploited
for exporting local produce to the UAE.
Referring to World Expo 2020 in Dubai, Zuma said the South African
farming community would be ready to ensure there was more than
sufficient fresh produce in the UAE markets.
On foreign direct investment, Zuma said the UAE had currently a total
of R3bn invested in 14 FDI projects, while South Africa had invested a
total of R5bn between January 2003 and June 2015 in 27 FDI projects in
the UAE.