RIYADH, 15 March 2006 — The Kingdom is to sign a series of agreements with South Africa as a sequel to the Saudi-South Africa Joint Commission (SSAJC) that concluded Sunday in Riyadh. The bilateral accords will be on education, sports, double taxation, protection of investments, maritime services and technical cooperation.
Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa led the 65-member South African delegation to the SSAJC’s second session, while his counterpart headed the Saudi team in the Kingdom, Hashim Yamani.
The first session of the SSAJC was held in Pretoria in 2004.
“This is going to be an eventful year for the Kingdom and South Africa since we have identified new areas of cooperation that would further strengthen the bilateral relations,” Abdul Hamid Gabier, South African Ambassador to the Kingdom, told Arab News, pointing out that the Kingdom is his country’s strategic partner in the Middle East.
In terms of education, the envoy said South Africa welcomed the scholarship proposal submitted by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education for Saudi students to be enrolled at South African universities as a basis for closer cooperation.
“An agreement on education cooperation between universities of the two countries will be signed in the coming weeks,” he said, adding that such an agreement would help exchange of students between universities.
Sequel to the joint discussions, the Kingdom will increase its exports of oil and petrochemical goods to South Africa in exchange of mining, electro-technical and financial services. South Africa’s exports to the Kingdom were valued at SR2 billion, while its imports stood at SR20 million.
Minister Mpahlwa called for investment by Saudi Arabian companies in tourism, infrastructure, information technology, agro-processing, chemical and allied industries, energy, and transport as well as electro-technical equipment in South Africa.
Saudi Arabia also called on interested South African companies to invest in the mining sector, including processing and refining of minerals.
It was also agreed that investments by companies from the two countries in strategic areas identified by the respective investment authorities be encouraged. These areas include tourism, infrastructure, information technology, and transport in South Africa, while the Saudi government would encourage mining companies to invest in the Kingdom, including in the processing and refining of minerals.
The two countries agreed to initiate cooperation among the Saudi Export Program of the Saudi Fund for Development and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa as well as other financial services agencies to enhance trade exchange.
They would also encourage companies in their respective countries to invest in each other’s territory in strategic areas as identified by investment authorities.
Cooperation would also be established between the two countries’ energy sectors.
They also emphasized the importance of exchange visits, expertise, statistics and information sharing in the tourism sector including the development of tourism infrastructure, investment as well as awareness and training programs.
