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South Africa's Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe says the Euro zone crisis is continuing to threaten the rate of recovery of the global economy from the 2009 global recession.

She was speaking at the second session of the Czech-South Africa Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation, which is held in Czech Republic, Prague. Deputy Minister said the Euro crisis is even more relevant to the two economies as the European Union remains the key export market for South Africa and Czech Republic.

Thabethe said that South Africa has identified infrastructure development as key to sustainable economic development and industrialisation.

‘In this regards we have over the years and will over the next years be investing heavily in the country’s infrastructure. This includes transport (ports, rail, road and airports), energy (both renewable and conventional), information and communication technology (ICT), social infrastructure and many more. We hope that with your help your companies will be encouraged to look for opportunities to participate in the economic activities in South Africa’, she said.

Thabethe mentioned that Africa aims to harness the advantages of its abundant natural resources in the mineral resources and agricultural resources to propel industrialisation on the continent.

‘There are multitudes of developments in our continent aimed at ensuring that the continent is ready to exploit the opportunities that the next growth wave after the commodity boom. Regional integration initiatives like the Tripartite Free Trade Agreements between Southern African Development Community (SADC), East African Community (EAC), and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) which aims to consolidate a market of 26 countries into a single market and the regional infrastructure plans such as the North-South Corridor aiming to create linkages between the various economic markets’; added the Deputy Minister.

The purpose of the Czech-South Africa meeting is to promote and strengthen trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries. Tomorrow Thabethe and her counterpart Mr Pavel Solc are expected to sign the joint protocol which will outline the plan on further expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation between South Africa and Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Thabethe also addressed the SA-Czech Republic Business forum that was held on the side-line of the second session of the Czech-South Africa Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation. She told business people that the number of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) grew by 27% from 2010 to 2011.

‘This broad-based progress is underscored by a substantial shift in mind set and activities among African themselves, with increasing self-confidence and continued strong growth in intra-African FDI. Three of the top five fastest growing investors into new projects in Africa are African.