By Simon Nare
Deputy President Paul Mashitaile has encouraged the South African government and Japan to explore more trade opportunities as the country looks at shifting focus on trade partnerships.
Mashatile, speaking to Japanese media on Wednesday, said the strained diplomatic relations between South and the US was a reason why the country wanted to shift focus and diversify its export markets, and not rely on single trading partners.
However, he said the South African government was still committed to stabilising relations with the US.
The deputy president said South Africa and Japan enjoyed trade and investment relations which have been going back for more than a century.
“South Africa and Japan enjoy well-established diplomatic relations which are particularly strong in the fields of trade and investment, science and technology and education, skills transfer and capacity building through development assistance.
“Full diplomatic relations with Japan were established on 13 January 1992. In 2010, relations between the two countries were upgraded to a Strategic Cooperation Partnership. The year 2025 will mark 115 years of relations between South Africa and Japan,” he noted.
Mashatile said that despite recent developments with the US, including the expulsion of the South African ambassador to the world superpower, the country remained committed to maintaining strong bilateral relations.
Further, South Africa was committed to improving mutual beneficial trade, and political and diplomatic relations with the US.
“Having said this, we are also looking to considering avenues of diversifying our export markets to lessen our reliance on single trading partners. In addition to Japan, we are exploring opportunities to expand our trade relations with other countries, such as China, Russia, India and European countries,” he said.
The deputy president said South Africa and Japan cooperated within the framework of the Partnership Forum held at a ministerial level which covered the entire spectrum of sectoral cooperation.
He said the 13th Partnership Forum was held on 12 and 13 October 2022 in Tokyo, and the next session was expected to be hosted by South Africa. He did not stipulate a date.
He added that over the years, there has been increased cooperation between the two countries to foster closer relations through high-level engagements.
Japan was one of South Africa’s major economic partners with a sizeable investment in the South African economy, and the potential for increased investment existed.
“Furthermore, Japan is the 4th largest economy in the world and total bilateral trade between the two countries in 2024 was R132 billion, with South Africa recording a trade surplus of R52 billion.
“Cooperation between South Africa and Japan on development cooperation is based on technical assistance, research collaboration, financial assistance through loans, supplementary budget assistance through international organisations and grassroot projects through a partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),” he said.
Mashatile has been in the Asian country for the past three days where he has been meeting government officials in what many view as an effort to cement bilateral relations.
He is leading a delegation of ministers and has described his visit as a success. He has also met business leaders and academia.
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