Belgian Prince Philippe leads trade mission to South Africa
By Andnetwork .com
Prince Philippe of Belgium arrived in Cape Town on Sunday, leading a
week-long trade mission to South Africa to look at investment
opportunities in the country and on the continent at large.
Philippe and Princess Mathilde were accompanied by trade ministers
and executives from about 70 Belgian companies, the foreign ministry
said.
"A major objective of the visit will be to examine opportunities for
business partnerships with Belgium in South Africa and Africa,
particularly in the ports, energy and railway sectors," a foreign
ministry statement said.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is hosting the Belgian royals
and the business leaders for the visit that will take them to Cape
Town, Johannesburg and Durban, meeting luminaries such as former
president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, both
Nobel Peace Prize winners.
South African government officials and their Belgian counterparts are
also to discuss ways to help the Democratic Republic of Congo, a
former Belgian colony, prepare for its
watershed June 18 elections.
Philippe, the heir to the Belgian throne, and Mathilde are due to
visit a diamond-cutting factory outside Pretoria and open an Internet
cafe in a township that will use Belgian ISDN techology.
Belgium is South Africa's sixth-largest trading partner with exports
valued at 7.21 billion rand (1.15 billion dollars/ 970 million euros)
in 2004, mostly diamonds, iron, other minerals and fresh fruit,
according to government figures.
South African imports from Belgium totalling 3.83 billion rand in
2004 were mostly automobile parts including catalytic converters,
transport containers and wheels.
Source : Sapa
AND Network