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MOGILEV, 8 December (BelTA) – Mogilev Oblast and Mpumalanga Province of the Republic of South Africa have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The document was signed by Deputy Chairman of the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee Viktor Nekrashevich and Premier of Mpumalanga Province David Dabede Mabuza, BelTA has learned.
Mogilev Oblast and Mpumalanga Province are mutually interested in stepping up friendly ties through establishing interregional partnership to develop and expand effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and industry, agriculture, education, sport, tourism, and culture.
According to Viktor Nekrashevich, Mogilev Oblast is open to cooperation and has favorable conditions for investors and for doing business. “We see a huge potential for advancing interregional cooperation. We have a sufficient number of contact points in various spheres but we need a clear-cut action program. Concrete joint projects need to be implemented. We hope that the visit of the Mpumalanga Province delegation to Mogilev Oblast will give a new impulse to the advancement of cooperation between the Belarusian region and the Republic of South Africa,” remarked the deputy head of the Mogilev Oblast administration.
In turn, David Dabede Mabuza expressed a strong interest in implementing various agribusiness projects together with Mogilev Oblast and Belarus as a whole. “We are interested in buying agricultural machines, setting up enterprises to assemble tractors in South Africa. We are also interested in using Belarusian universities to train specialists in agriculture and forestry industry, healthcare, and information technologies,” he remarked.
During the negotiations the sides discussed opportunities for cooperation in woodworking, the establishment of enterprises to process agricultural products and make food.
While in Mogilev Oblast the South African delegation is expected to visit the dairy holding company Babushkina Krynka. They will also be made familiar with the educational process in the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy in Gorki and the production of agricultural machines in OAO Bobruiskagromash.
In January-September 2016 South Africa accounted for 0.08% of Mogilev Oblast’s foreign trade with non-CIS states. The country’s share in Mogilev Oblast’s export was as low as 0.2%, with the share in import at 0.01%. South Africa mainly purchased tires, rubber bags, and rubber footwear (91% of the export volume). In 2016 Machina-TST Company started shipping mesh grids to South Africa while the Shklov-based newsprint mill started exporting newsprint in coils. In turn, SOOO Oasis Group and OAO Zadneprovye imported fruits from South Africa.
Mpumalanga Province is one of the most industrially developed regions in South Africa. The leading industries include mining (25% of the GDP, coal, gold, iron ore, silicon, and other materials are mined), telecommunications (18%), finance (13%), production sector (14%), and power engineering. As many as 12 power plants out of the 21 power plants the country has are located in Mpumalanga Province. Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of Mpumalanga Province. The province also boasts about 40% of the country’s forests.
