NORWAY was a critical market in Europe that would help SA diversify its trade away from its traditional dependence on European Union (EU) countries and towards the Balkan states and Russia, Trade and Investment SA chief operating officer Riaan le Roux said yesterday.
He told a seminar in Sandton on Economic Growth Through Knowledge Transfer and Trade , as part of this week’s Norwegian trade delegation’s visit to SA, that Norway, which is not a member of the EU, offered a gateway for SA to markets that were otherwise difficult to access for logistical reasons.
Diversification was very important to help SA avoid the fallout from the next global recession, which some were predicting for 2018, he said.
SA at present exported 20% of its goods to the EU and the fact that it was exporting 25% of its goods to the Asia-Pacific region, of which 80% were raw materials, was also a concern. “Successful trading nations trade with their neighbours,” L e Roux said.
Only 15% of SA’s trade was within Africa, and that should be about 20%, he said.
SA could benefit from the European Free Trade Association (Efta) agreement signed last year with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu), which gives Sacu members duty-free access to the Efta countries on a range of industrial products, fish and processed agricultural goods, he said. The Efta countries are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
In turn, Norway could benefit from the access that SA, with nine ports, offered to the landlocked states of sub-Saharan Africa.
Norwegian Secretary for Trade and Industry Halvard Ingebrigtsen said in an interview that Norway’s focus on SA had moved away from development aid towards trading opportunities as a result of the transformation of the South African economy since 1994.
During the visit of the 70-member Norwegian delegation this week, two major agreements have already been signed. The first, between , Statoil of Norway and Chesapeake of the US, is a joint venture on onshore petroleum exploration in SA, and the second, between Sasol and Norwegian state-owned Gassnova, could enable Sasol to invest in a carbon capture and storage facility north of Bergen.
Ingebrigtsen said that apart from oil, gas and renewables investments, Norway was also interested in exploring opportunities with SA in technology, including cellular, satellite and coastal protection.
There was also considerable scope to expand tourism between the countries, with about 20000 Norwegians visiting SA a year, and even more expected next year for the Soccer World Cup.
mathewsc@bdfm.co.za