JOHANNESBURG — Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi confirmed that the Saudi delegation's visit to South Africa comes within the framework of Saudi Arabia's commitment to strengthening its trade and economic relations with the African continent, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Saudi-African Summit held in Riyadh last November. Al-Qasabi said the forum was being held nearly a year after the summit, which witnessed the announcement of King Salman's initiative to implement development projects and programs worth more than one billion dollars in the countries of the continent over a period of 10 years, in addition to Saudi investments of $25 billion in various vital sectors. He pointed out that these initiatives support the promotion of trade and business with South Africa, as the great potential enjoyed by the economies of the two countries can push the volume of trade exchange reached in 2023, which was estimated at $3.5 billion. The Saudi-South African Business Forum was opened on Monday in Johannesburg with the participation of 420 leaders from the public and private sectors. In addition to Saudi Ambassador to South Africa Faisal Al-Harbi, South Africa's Minister of Small Enterprise Development Stella Ndabeni Abrahams, and Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille attended the forum. South African Minister of Trade Parks Franklyn Mpho Tau described the economic partnership between the two countries as promising, noting that Saudi Arabia is South Africa's gateway to the Middle East, and South Africa is Saudi Arabia's gateway to the African continent. He described it as the largest free trade zone in the world, with a population estimated at 1.3 billion people in 54 countries, and a gross domestic product value of $3 trillion. The forum's activities included a review of the most prominent reforms implemented to enhance Saudi Arabia's competitiveness, presented by Deputy Minister of Commerce Dr. Iman Al-Mutairi. She discussed the positive results witnessed by the Saudi economy and business environment in the Kingdom, including the completion of more than 820 economic reforms implemented by 65 government agencies since 2016 in 9 main areas. This is in addition to the issuance and updating of 1,200 regulations and bylaws that supported the legal framework and contributed to making the business environment in Saudi Arabia one of the leading destinations on the global level in attracting companies and business owners, Al-Mutairi said. She explained that Saudi Arabia allows 100% foreign ownership in most business sectors. The establishment of the Saudi Business Center contributed to re-engineering the procedures for starting and conducting business. This led to a reduction in business licensing requirements by 55%. The forum's activities included holding two dialogue sessions; the first addressed cooperation in the field of mining, while the second discussed expanding the economic partnership between Saudi Arabia and South Africa in light of promising opportunities, in addition to identifying the mechanisms followed by the relevant authorities to solve the challenges facing the business sector. The South African side also reviewed its experience in the tourism sector and in developing the industrial sector. During the forum, two agreements were signed between the Saudi Export-Import Bank and ABSA and Standard Banks, and a MoU between the Saudi Export Development Authority and Sky Tower Development Company. The forum's activities come as part of a working visit by a Saudi delegation comprising officials from 15 government agencies and 31 businessmen and leaders from major national companies, with the aim of strengthening trade relations in various priority economic sectors and raising the level of economic partnership.
