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A delegation of South African businesspeople will get an opportunity to be exposed to the markets in Peru and Chile when they take part in the Outward Selling and Investment Mission (OSIM) to the two countries which will take place from 2-6 June 2014.  The 27-member delegation which will consist of businesses in the agro-processing, engineering and construction, defences systems and mining, as well as mineral resources sectors will depart on 30 May 2014.  

 The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says an OSIM is one of the flagship projects of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) to ensure that emerging and potential exporters are exposed to international markets as a way of creating market access for their products and services, and also increasing trade between South Africa and international countries.  “Chile is an important trade partner to South Africa, as South Africa is Chile’s largest trading partner in Africa,” says Minister Davies. He highlights that South Africa is ranked 7th as an export partner and 6th as an import partner to Chile in 2013 and that Chile ranked 73rd as South Africa’s export partner and 64th as an import partner.

“The trade balance between the two countries is currently in Chile’s favour. A matter of concern is that South African imports from Chile have shown a considerable increase since 2007 with some variations over the years and as a result, the trade deficit is widening,” he adds. According to Davies Peru was ranked number 76 as South Africa’s import partner and number 90 as the export partner in 2012 and the percentage of South Africa’s global trade with Peru has been less than 0.2%. The delegation will participate in investment seminars, business-to-business meetings and site visits in order to further explore the Peruvian and Chilean markets and learn how business is conducted in those countries.