OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 9.00am.
HONG Kong is eager to increase two-way trade with South Africa, visiting Finance Secretary Donald Tsang said in Pretoria on Monday after talks with South African Trade Minister Alec Erwin.
Tsang said trade between the two countries last year amounted to HK$7,8-billion (R6-billion), or 1% of Hong Kong’s total foreign trade, but that this figure could grow.”I think with an economy like South Africa’s a lot more is possible,” he said after co-chairing a South Africa-Hong Kong trade and investment workshop with Erwin.
Erwin said the Hong Kong delegation and South African businessmen discussed the effects of the economic crisis on their respective economies. They also spoke about dealing with the effect of globalisation on developing countries.
“We share a common approach to the global economy, we are not seeking to lock ourselves out from it,” he said. “But within that acceptance, there seems to be room to explore how adjustments could be made.”
Tsang arrived in South Africa on Sunday for a 12-day visit aimed at exploring trade and investment ties. In his opening address to the workshop, Tsang said bilateral investment is in its infancy. Hong Kong companies invested $187-million in South Africa by early 1997, while South African companies injected some $77-million into the Chinese territory by the end of that year.
“This simply means that there are plenty of opportunities that have yet to be fully explored and exploited to our mutual benefit,” he said.
Tsang, who is accompanied by a high-level trade delegation, said Hong Kong is an ideal access market to China. In turn, South Africa can serve as a gateway to southern Africa with its 200-million people.
Hong Kong is currently South Africa’s 16th-largest trading partner, while South Africa is the region’s major trading partner in Africa. Tsang’s visit comes as Hong Kong is attempting to extricate itself from its worst recession on record in the wake of last year’s Asian financial crisis.