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SA, Iran to expand trade ties
23 July 2003
The 7th Joint Bilateral Commission between South Africa and Iran, held over two days in Pretoria this week, agreed on the need to strengthen relations between the two countries, especially in the areas of trade and investment, as spelled out in the 6th session held in Tehran in 2002.
The commission, chaired by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, also paid special attention to the possibility of expanding political, social, economic, scientific and technical co-operation.
Discussions also explored co-operation in the commercial, customs, banking, tourism, health, industrial, mining, petrochemical and agricultural sectors. Co-operation in the fight against the trafficking of illicit drugs was also agreed on.
The two governments established two working groups to give effect to the agreements. The one group will deal with political and social issues, while the second one will
address economic and technical matters.
At the same time, a Joint Business Forum comprising business people from both countries was established and held consultations on the sidelines of the commission. The Forum is scheduled to convene on 31 July.
The two ministers, in a statement after the commission, expressed the hope that this forum would succeed in bringing the business communities of the two countries closer together.
Earlier, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad urged the South African business sector to take advantage of the Iranian business delegation's visit to "break trade barriers" by reducing the trade imbalance between the two countries.
Pahad said trade relations between South Africa and Iran favoured Iran through the sugar-for-oil trade.
Iran's total exports to South Africa, mainly in oil, stood at R5.2-billion in 2002, constituting 40 percent of South Africa's supplies, while South Africa's exports to Iran in 2002,
mainly sugar, amounted to R325-million.
A number of South African companies, including oil giants Sasol and PetroSA, have invested in the Iranian petrochemical sector, while a consortium of Iranian companies, One Vision Investments, recently invested R500-million in a housing development in Parklands in the Western Cape. The consortium is considering expanding its operations to the Eastern Cape.
Source: BuaNews
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South Africa's trade relations
South Africa, a founding member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and an active member of the World Trade Organisation, is party to numerous trade relationships. Find out more. 
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