19 February 2007
A senior delegation flew out last week on a 10-day mission to promote South African trade, tourism and investment in the five Gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The delegation includes officials from the departments of Tourism and Trade and Industry. It is also the third trade mission for the International Marketing Council of SA (IMC) following successful missions to North America in 2004 and Europe and the UK in 2005.
"We shall be visiting the GCC countries with an open mind, being aware of their collective quests to lure as much trade and investment to their shores, balance of payments, labour and skills development demands," Tourism deputy director-general Patrick Matlou said in a statement ahead of the trip.
The delegation visited Qatar from Wednesday to Friday, flew in to Oman on Saturday, and left for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
The team has been holding one-on-one meetings and discussions with local business leaders, and hosting workshops on opportunities in South Africa ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
According to Tyrone Seale, head of the IMC delegation, the visit confirms the importance of the Gulf region to South Africa
According to the Department of Tourism, investment bank Merrill Lynch rates the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council as offering far greater untapped economic prospects than South Africa's other major trading partners, China and Japan.
Overall, the Middle East is South Africa's sixth most important trading partner. However, trade between the two is mainly in the form of South African imports of crude oil and other petroleum products, leading to a huge negative trade imbalance.
As a result, Seale said, there was huge potential for growth in trade outside the fuel sector, as well as significant new opportunities opening up in the leisure and hospitality and construction and engineering sectors.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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