UK Trade Minister visited South Africa and Botswana to strengthen trade ties
This was the first visit to Africa by UK Minister for Trade Policy Douglas Alexander, which forms part of the UK 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트™s wider resetting of partnerships with Africa, which the Foreign Secretary set out in November during his visits to Nigeria and South Africa.
UK Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security, Douglas Alexander, travelled to South Africa and Botswana to strengthen trade links and create opportunities for both African and UK businesses.
He is the first Minister from the UK바카라 사이트™s Department for Business and Trade to travel to the continent since the UK election, which took place last summer.
The UK is seeking to deepen trade and investment across the continent and drive mutually beneficial growth in both the UK and Africa, including by making progress on removing barriers to trade to help businesses export more easily and providing UK support to trade for development programmes across the continent.
During his trip, the Trade Policy Minister co-chaired the first Southern African Custom Union and Mozambique (SACUM) 바카라 사이트“ UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Joint Council. The Economic Partnership Agreement underpins all goods trade with the UK and SACUM members. The Joint Council discussed where there is potential to strengthen our trade and investment partnerships and support economic growth across all member countries.
He met with South Africa바카라 사이트™s Minister for Trade Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, South Africa바카라 사이트™s Agriculture Minister, John Steenhuisen, Botswana바카라 사이트™s Trade Minister and Vice-President, Ndaba Gaolathe, as well as his counterparts from Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia to discuss areas for future growth in key sectors including infrastructure, energy, transport and logistics, agriculture, minerals, and the digital economy. He also met with UK and South African companies and took part in a CEO roundtable, where he was seeking views from the private sector to help inform the 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트™s cross-continent reset and wider trade strategy.
Minister for Trade Policy, Douglas Alexander said:
South Africa is our largest trading partner in Africa, with an exciting period ahead as the country assumes the G20 Presidency. I am keen to explore how we can strengthen further the bilateral trade between our two countries.
Mutual economic benefit is also at the forefront of the UK바카라 사이트™s relationship with Botswana. There is a huge opportunity for us to collaborate on sectors important to our economies including renewable energy and I look forward to continuing to strengthen our ties.
Minister Alexander emphasised the UK바카라 사이트™s support for South Africa바카라 사이트™s Presidency of the G20 this year and reaffirmed the UK 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트™s commitment to building mutually beneficial partnerships with African countries. This follows on from the UK Foreign Secretary바카라 사이트™s recent visit to the continent in November 2024, during which he agreed to develop a UK-South Africa Growth Plan.
Further information
- this visit forms part of the UK 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트™s wider resetting of partnerships with Africa, which the Foreign Secretary set out in November during his visits to Nigeria and South Africa based on three priorities: economic growth and transformation, climate and nature, and governance and security
- background for the UK바카라 사이트™s Minister for Trade Policy Douglas Alexander MP can be found
- information on the SACUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement can be found
- information on the UK Foreign Secretary바카라 사이트™s visit to Nigeria and South Africa, including agreement on developing a new UK-South Africa Growth Plan, can be found here