MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

South African products in America

By

Driving a vehicle manufactured in South Africa, eating an orange grown in our orchards or drinking a glass of wine produced from our vines.

These are just a few of the things Americans do on a regular basis, that are testament of the mature, balanced and mutually beneficial trade relations shared between South Africa and the United States.

United States Consul General Teddy Taylor today visited the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber to have a round table discussion with interested local businesses on “Deepening the U.S – South Africa Economic Relationship”.

He encouraged the Nelson Mandela Bay businesses to leverage off the mutually beneficial trade relationship between the two countries.

$21 billion (R300 billion) of goods and services characterise these trade relations, and are balanced between exports and imports.

His advice to the businesses that attended the round table discussion, and operate in the automotive and agricultural sectors of Nelson Mandela Bay, was to focus on one state and gradually penetrate the American market with a staged approach of introducing their Eastern Cape goods and services.

He acknowledged the challenge of growth of less than 1% in South Africa, but said that South Africa was still the key to Sub-Saharan prosperity into the future. In particular he commended the sophisticated financial services and legal sector of the country.

“Success in South Africa is vital to the success of Africa,” Taylor said.

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Kevin Hustler said the Business Chamber was privileged to receive a visit from Taylor, who has become a friend of the city over the years.

Taylor has been in South Africa since 2014, when he took up the position as US Consul General. He has over 30 years of diplomatic experience across countries in Europe, Africa and the East.

“The values of the Business Chamber are integrity, commitment and prosperity. When our businesses prosper, we prosper as a business community. We hope that more Nelson Mandela Bay businesses will grow to benefit from the good US trade relations,” Hustler said.

Nelson Mandela Bay’s sister city in the United States, Jacksonville, is located in Florida and the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber continues to build on our partnership with the Jacksonville Business Chamber (JAX).

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.