SA, Liberia keen to boost trade ties
South Africa and Liberia sign memorandum of understanding to improve trade and economic relations between them.
|||Johannesburg - South Africa and Liberia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that seeks to create a legal framework to improve trade and economic relations between the two countries.
The South African government said the agreement also seeks to foster mutually beneficial relations and stimulate private sector interest and other forms of economic activity in the respective countries.
The Liberian delegation, led by Andrew G. Paygar-Flangiah (Deputy Minister of Commerce and Trade, responsible for small business and administration), was hosted by Deputy Minister of Small Business Development Elizabeth Thabethe in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The Department of Small Business Development said the two countries have potential to create mega-projects in key areas such as tourism, transport, energy, agriculture and agro-processing, mineral resources, health, defence and justice as well as trade and investment which can benefit small to medium enterprises.
Recently, the Liberia Business Association decried foreign domination of the economy in the West African country, though many companies withdrew because of the Ebola epidemic.
The Liberian delegation will be in South Africa for about a week, conducting a study tour on small business development with a particular focus on the Small Enterprise Development Agency’s incubation support programme, including pre- and post-support in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West.
ANA