South Africa and Vietnam want to strengthen their business ties

South Africa and Vietnam want to strengthen their business ties

On November 24, the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-South Africa Joint Committee on Commercial Cooperation was held in Johannesburg to discuss strategies to advance the two countries economic and trade ties.

Nomalungelo Gina, deputy minister of trade, industry, and competition for South Africa, said that her nation has always valued its ties with Vietnam and that the signing and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will open up investment opportunities for Vietnamese companies in a bigger and more liberalized continental market.

Tran Quoc Khanh, deputy minister of industry and trade for Vietnam, stated that the event would help to strengthen the positive political, diplomatic, and economic ties between the two nations on the basis of reciprocal advantages.

In 2020, two-way trade between Vietnam and South Africa reached a new high of around 1.4 billion USD. The amount was over 1.3 billion USD in 2021 and 1.1 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2022, despite being impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Khanh also noted the challenges facing bilateral economic and commercial relations, stating that the bilateral turnover does not match the intrinsic potential of the two countries.