Deputy President Paul Mashatile has touched down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to lead the South African squad to the 1st Saudi-Africa Summit happening today, Friday, 10 November 2023. This summit, which was supposed to go down in 2019, is all about development stuff like education, health, humanitarian aid, and economic growth.
The team with Deputy President Mashatile includes Dr Naledi Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Ibrahim Patel, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, and Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.
Deputy President Mashatile plans to have some one-on-one chats with a few of the delegation leaders and also make a friendly visit to His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
South Africa and Saudi Arabia have a pretty good relationship, especially in politics and economics. We’ve got two main ways of keeping things smooth with the Kingdom: the Bilateral Political Consultation (BPC) and the Joint Economic Commission (JEC). The BPC had its first session in 2021, and Minister Pandor is set to host and co-chair the second session with His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on 29 January 2024. The 9th session of the JEC was hosted and co-chaired by Minister Patel from 3 to 4 October 2022, just before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State Visit to Saudi Arabia from 15 to 16 October.
When it comes to business, the total trade between South Africa and Saudi Arabia hit around R80 billion in 2022, mostly in commodities. Our goal is to expand the variety of goods we trade and explore opportunities in agriculture, mining, tourism, health, aviation, maritime industries, and arts and culture.
Saudi Arabia is our second biggest trading partner in the Middle East, just behind the United Arab Emirates (UAE).