Johannesburg. Following the recent visit to South Africa by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the spotlight is back on South Africa’s richest province and Africa’s third biggest economy Gauteng, when the provincial government hosts the powerful U.S Congressional delegation led by Rep. G.K Butterfield (D-NC) on Thursday 20th August 2009 at Emoyeni Centre in Parktown, Johannesburg starting at 19h00.
GEDA Chief Executive, Blake Mosley and Gauteng Economic Development MEC Firoz Cachalia will join Premier Nomvula Mokonyane in hosting the Congressional delegation which is expected to arrive in the country this afternoon. Rep. Butterfield will be accompanied by fellow congress members Rep. Lacy Clay(D-MO), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) and leading figures in the commerce, trade and consumer department.
Key amongst the issues to be discussed is the strengthening of business and trade relations between South Africa and in particular the Gauteng City Region and the U.S with special focus on smart industries and projects that can create decent and sustainable jobs. Over the past years trade between South Africa and the US amounted to $6.4905 in exports and $9.9480 in imports with a trade balance of $-3,457.6 in 2008 while through its dedication and hard work GEDA facilitated investments worth $500million into the province’s economy from U.S based companies in 2008/9 like Proctor & Gamble which has just established Africa’s first pampers plant in Kempton Park, Johannesburg.
“We are looking forward to a fruitful engagement with the Congressional delegation as this presents an opportunity for South African organized business formations and individual business owners who are looking at the US as a key market to possibly explore quicker ways of accessing this $13trillion economy,” explained GEDA Chief Exec. Blake Mosley-Lefatola.
Gauteng will use the occasion to sell to the delegation investment opportunities in the information and communications technology, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, business process outsourcing, automotives and the creative industries sectors. We will also use these engagements to interact with the review process of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as Gauteng is one of the major beneficiaries and also prepare for the Gauteng delegation visit to Washington scheduled for September this year.
Premier Mokonyane is expected to lead both the business and political delegation to the States to further explore opportunities in the above sectors and hopefully sign a sisterhood and cooperation agreements with the State of Illinois, concluded Lefatola.
Members of the media are hereby invited to the occasion to interact with the delegation and hear more about the province’s plans on promoting trade and investments with the United States. For confirmations and accreditation please liaise with Mr. William Baloyi at +27118338750/ 0833907147 orwilliamb@geda.co.za.
