BY KING’S OFFICE CORRESPONDENTS
SEOUL, KOREA – His Majesty King Mswati III has invited Republic of Korea businesses to invest in Africa, using the Kingdom of Eswatini as its launch pad.
He said business people can take advantage of the approximately E20 trillion (1 trillion US Dollars) in Intra-Africa trade by next year as a result of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
His Majesty being ushered into the Presidency before meeting with the Korean President.
His Majesty the King, speaking through Commerce Industry and Trade Minister Manqoba Khumalo during the Korea-Africa Business Summit here, said.
Eswatini offers a predictable investment climate with a highly skilled labour force.
His Majesty said the manufacturing and agricultural sectors will experience the biggest gains from the liberalisation of goods.
“This offers prospects for agriculture, including agro-processing, automotive, textiles, clothing, leather products and other value-adding economic activities in Eswatini.
“At full implementation, Africa’s manufacturing sector has the potential to reach 1 trillion US dollars (E20 trillion) in 2025, creating 14 million stable jobs.
The King said he has no doubt that AfCFTA will bring the required impetus to the promotion of trade amongst African countries.
“It will also provide African countries, including Eswatini, with a huge market share of 1.3 billion people and a wide market access of 3.1 billion US dollars (approximately E60 billion).
“We believe that it has the potential for broader and deeper economic integration and would attract investment, boost trade, including intra-African trade, provide better jobs, reduce poverty, and increase shared prosperity in Africa,” he said.
The Korean President seeing off His Majesty and his entourage after the meeting.
His Majesty the King said the vision is a good augmentation of the job creation drive to alleviate the scourge of youth unemployment within the continent.
The King said in the short to medium term, Eswatini’s ambitions are to focus on specific sectors in which investors from Korea and abroad can take advantage, which include manufacturing and agriculture-processing, agriculture, energy, mining, tourism, education and ICT.
“We believe that these sectors have great potential for advancing our economic growth and creating jobs for Emaswati. They are in line with our regional integration agenda with a concurrent focus on liberalising trade in services, as these are the backbone of the markets,” the King said.
KING CALLS FOR SIGNING OF TRADE AGREEMENT WITH KOREA
SEOUL, KOREA – His Majesty the King has noted that there is minimal trade between the Kingdom and the Republic of Korea, thereby calling for the immediate signing of a trade agreement.
He said Eswatini and Korea are trading under the Most Favoured Nation principle (MFN) under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
“We have no bilateral preferential trade arrangements; the preference we give to each other is the same for all the 164 WTO members.
“There is therefore an urgent need to establish a vibrant and effective trade agreement between our Kingdom and the Republic of Korea,” he said.
His Majesty said he was certain that the business community in Korea will take advantage of the incentives that the government is giving them in setting up their investment in Eswatini and, by extension, Africa and beyond.
He concluded by saying, “The Kingdom of Eswatini is ready and open to welcome the Korean business community.”
ESWATINI INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE
SEAOL, KOREA – His Majesty the King has told the Korean business community that Eswatini’s investment landscape is supported by robust industrial and investment policies that seek to improve its competitiveness in economic development.
He was addressing the business community during the Korea-Africa Business Summit through Commerce, Industry and Trade Minister Manqoba Khumalo yesterday.
The King said the country has strategic initiatives such as the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), biotech, and industrial parks to leverage its manufacturing capabilities and participate in regional and global value chains.
He said the kingdom remains 6th in terms of manufacturing in Africa, as published in the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2023 (UNIDO).
His Majesty said this ranking is proof that the country’s business environment is conducive and its manufacturing sector has enormous potential.
“Multinational and domestic companies looking to expand, particularly in Southern Africa and to serve the region, continent and the rest of the world from Eswatini will be properly positioned to use us as their launching pad.”
“The Kingdom of Eswatini is signatory to and beneficiary of several bilateral, regional, continental, and multilateral trade and cooperation agreements.
“This has the dual effect of expanding her international trade and market access opportunities, as well as realising an increase in investment for both trade in goods and services,” the King said.
