South African businessmen keen to initiate joint ventures

The Acting High Commissioner of South Africa, Magen Govender has said that South African businessmen are keen to initiate joint ventures with their Pakistani counterparts in various areas of common interest, as Pakistan has become an emerging regional market and the standard of its products is of world class. He stated this while talking to LCCI President Mian Misbahur Rehman here on Friday. The LCCI Senior Vice-President Sohail Lashari was also present on the occasion.
The South African diplomat disclosed that a high-powered business delegation would visit Pakistan in near future to have first-hand knowledge about the business opportunities available here.
Magen Govender urged the LCCI president to arrange an LCCI delegation to South Africa as exchange of trade delegations has become an effective tool to promote businesses in the backdrop of globalisation. He said that the South African government is also encouraging foreign investment and it is high time that the Pakistani business community should take advantage of the business-friendly policies of the South African government.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI president said that South Africa today is one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging markets. He said that Pakistan and South Africa share cordial relations and there exists unlimited scope for expanding trade ties between the two countries. Total exports of Pakistan to South Africa stood at 122.4 million dollars in 2003-04. Textile yarn and fabrics are the main exports to South Africa and constitute almost 60 to 70 percent of the total exports. The other major exports are leather, bed and table linen, medicaments, yarn, carpets, rice, fish and molasses. On the other hand imports from South Africa have been showing an increasing trend from 1999-2000 to 2000-01 but started declining thereafter. However, these again registered an increase in 2003-04. South Africa''s main exports to Pakistan are iron and steel products, man-made staples, optical and photographic equipment, wood pulp and paper, organic chemicals and aluminium. He stated that there is a great potential of expansion of trade between the two countries. South Africa can boost their exports to Pakistan of items like chemicals. Similarly, Pakistan can supply to South Africa a number of items including engineering goods, sanitary goods, machine tools, auto parts, surgical instruments, vegetables and rice, he added.
The LCCI president said that there also exists a great scope for joint ventures as Pakistani industrialists can set up textile units in South Africa to cater to the African market. Similarly, African investors can consider joint ventures in Pakistan in the engineering sector, which can prove highly lucrative for them.