South Africa: Emilia Romagna benefits of agreement with Gauteng
Johannesburg - Trade has increased since the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the provincial government of South Africa's Gauteng province last year to enhance economic ties and bilateral projects between the two regions, Simona Caselli, regional minister for agriculture, hunting and fishing for the Emilia-Romagna said on Wednesday. She revealed this on the sidelines of the 2017 South Africa-Italy Summit taking place in Johannesburg on October 24-25. The summit forms part of the Gauteng city region's international relations strategy, which aims to coordinate municipal agreements with other countries or regions. Last year's agreement was signed in 12 areas of cooperation, including education, investments, tourism, energy, agribusiness, culture, innovation, climate change and advanced manufacturing. According to Caselli, exports from businesses in Emilia-Romagna to the Gauteng province increased by 2% to 300 million Euro, while imports from Gauteng increased by 25% to 12 million Euros during the first year of the MoU being implemented. "There is some trade, but it can be increased through exchanges such as fairs, for instance. Already there is strong interest for wine and cheese from our region and three companies in South Africa have been importing especially our cheese." She said she has met with the Premier of Gauteng, Mr David Malemolla Makhura, and he is happy with the progress of the agreement, which include projects such as universities working together to counter the challenges of climate change, ideas and know-how being exchanged on agro-parks, and seminars to help South African cooperatives deal with challenges and build value chains. Overall, Italy is among the top 20 global investors in South Africa, with $490 million invested in 2016, and the fifth largest European Union exporter in the country, with total trade of 1.6 billion Euro.