Today, 1 November 2021, H.E. Thabo Tage, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Africa in Sofia, held a working meeting with the Vice President of the Bulgarian Industrial Associaton Maria Mincheva, Director General of the International Economic Relations Center Vesselin Iliev and Hristina Kasparyan - Chief Expert of the same department.
The meeting is the second in less than a month, after the ambassador’s previous official visit to BIA. He was then accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa - Alvin Botes.
Among the discussed topics at today’s meeting were the administrative obstacles to business and the possibilities for overcoming them in order to deepen the business cooperation between Bulgaria and the Republic of South Africa. Specific opportunities for business cooperation in a number of sectors of the economy were also identified.
According to the latest report of the Ministry of Economy for the first six months of 2020, exports from Bulgaria to South Africa reach USD 59,7 million, which marked a decrease of 20% compared to the same period last year. Imports from the Republic of South Africa amounted to USD 16,0 million, which marks a double decline of -56,6% compared to the period for 2019. Trade between the two countries is worth USD 75,7 million USD, and here the statistics show a decrease of -32% compared to the first six months of 2019.
Taking into account the needs and opportunities of a well-developed and developed South African market and the importance of the regional markets of neighboring countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland), the promotion of Bulgarian goods in the region requires close cooperation with local companies and supply of goods and services at attractive prices and with high quality.
The meeting at BIA concluded with the promise of the participants to partner and assist in the development of bilateral relations.
