South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is ecstatic by the amount of Spanish companies investing in the country’s economy across a variety of sectors.
Following bilateral talks with his Spanish counterpart President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón at the Union Buildings, the President expressed his gratitude for the chance to engage with business leaders from the two countries at the SA-Spain Business Forum in Pretoria.
He informed the Spanish representatives that South Africa is ready to conduct business.
“We want Spanish companies to increase their foreign direct investment in South Africa.” We would also like to see more South African firms invest in Spain, added President Ramaphosa.
He believed that the engagement between South and Spain was a great foundation for enhancing the trade balance between the two nations.
The economic relationship between South Africa and the Kingdom of Spain is well-established and provides a solid foundation for growth and expansion.
South Africa’s primary objective is to boost exports of goods and services with added value to Spain. In this regard, we concentrate on mining equipment and technologies, advanced manufacturing, alternative energy equipment, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, and food processing equipment. “Spain’s investments in South Africa are concentrated in the renewable energy, tourism, steel, automotive, water, and agribusiness sectors. President Ramaphosa stated that companies such as Acciona and GRI have made substantial investments in the renewable energy sector.
President Ramaphosa stated that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on both developed and emerging economies.
“In response, South Africa adopted an Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that prioritizes infrastructure spending, an employment stimulus to generate and sustain jobs, and efforts to promote local industrialization.”
South Africa has prioritized actions to encourage industrial growth and the expansion of energy generation capacity in order to facilitate a speedy economic recovery. These initiatives provide excellent investment prospects. We are growing local production to increase the competitiveness of South African exports, as stated by the President.
President Ramaphosa stated that sectoral master plans have been prepared for major industries such as agriculture and agroprocessing, renewable energy, automotive, and steel.
He stated that in 2018, South Africa established the ambitious goal of attracting R1.2 trillion, or approximately $100 billion, in new investments over a period of five years.
“Through four South Africa Investment conferences, the most recent of which was held in March of this year, we have almost attained our goal. We anticipate a strong showing from Spanish companies at the upcoming 5th South Africa Investment Conference.” We are implementing a variety of measures to boost our energy producing capacity swiftly. We are increasing the procurement of renewable energy, expanding the usage of gas and battery storage, and eliminating self-generation limits.
President Ramaphosa stated, “We are highly delighted by the huge reaction from the corporate sector, notably the mining sector, to generate their own electricity.”
President Ramaphosa hosted the Spanish President at the Union Buildings on Thursday morning, where they had discussions and signed agreements.
South Africa is the twelfth largest market for Spanish exports, whereas Spain is the twenty-first largest market for South African exports.