South Africa expects more benefits from BRICS cooperation: official

JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa continues to look to BRICS for promoting industrialization, increasing trade and investment, growing the economy and reducing unemployment, said a senior government official Thursday.

"South Africa's trade with other BRICS countries is significant; this is particularly the case with China," said Ebrahim Patel, minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, at the virtual BRICS Economic Indaba. "We need to change the composition of our trade with BRICS since most of the exports are in raw materials, and there are greater opportunities for quantities of fruits and meat to BRICS countries."

There are also opportunities for South African alcoholic beverages and fertilizer to be exported to other BRICS countries and import mining machinery from them, said Patel, adding that the country would like to work with BRICS partners in building industrial capacity, technology transfer, putting more energy on the grid, electric vehicle production, pharmaceuticals and green economy.

South Africa's exports to other BRICS countries were 677 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, with China accounting for 72 percent of the total, while its imports from them in 2021 were 424 billion U.S. dollars, according to the minister.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South Africa assumed the BRICS presidency on Jan. 1, 2023, taking over from China.