Twenty-eight South African business representatives are in Zambia to explore markets there and deepen bilateral trade relations, the department of economic development, trade and industry said on Tuesday.

The tour week-long trade and investment mission to Zambia's capital Lusaka and Kitwe is funded by the department through its export market and investment assistance scheme. 

State-owned development finance institutions, the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation are part of the delegation, as are the South African Electro-Technical Export Council (SAEEC), South African Capital Equipment Export Council and the Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa 

The mission presents an opportunity to engage the Zambian Manufacturers Association on how to align the growing Zambian steel sector with that of South Africa for mutual benefit, executive director of the Steel Tube Export Association of South Africa Keitumetse Moumakoe said.

“We expect that steel fabrication companies we have appointments with in Zambia will embrace the use of more steel tubes in their projects thereby increasing the export of steel tubes and pipes that are not manufactured domestically in Zambia,” he said.

SAEEC chief executive Chiboni Evans hoped to identify Zambian projects and companies that her council's members could work with to design, develop and implement infrastructure projects for that country and the region.