President Thabo Mbeki this morning urged Chinese ICT companies to invest in SA, his spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said, speaking from China.
Mbeki is on a state visit to China, having attended a Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac): Summit of Heads of State and Government in Beijing, on Saturday and Sunday.
Mbeki is accompanied by foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and trade and industry minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.
"President Mbeki this morning met Chinese businesspeople to encourage them to invest in SA," Ratshitanga said. "The meeting took place in the context of the summit that just took place." He could not provide details of the companies Mbeki spoke to.
A recent Gartner report on China noted the country is on a quest to play a leading role in the global IT industry. Excluding Japan, China is by far the largest market in the Asia/Pacific region, with enterprise IT spend expected to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 6.2% to reach $85 billion in 2009. On the telecoms side, Gartner sized the market at more than $80 billion.
BuaNews, the government news service, adds Mbeki is also to hold bilateral political, economic and trade discussions with Chinese president Hu Jintao. Issues up for discussion include a review of bilateral political and economic relations between the countries, review of outcomes of Focac, SA`s election to the United Nations` Security Council, North Korea`s decision to rejoin the six-party talks, and peacekeeping and conflict resolution in Africa.
In his address to the Focac summit on Sunday, Mbeki highlighted the relationship of mutual development and support between China and the African continent.
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