BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– There is a possibility of more United States of America (USA) companies establishing businesses in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
This was revealed by Michelle Constant, the current Chief Executive officer of the American Chamber of Commerce in South Africa.
She made mention of the US establishing more businesses and exploring ventures of new businesses to support mutual trade opportunities between the US and Eswatini.
She also spoke to Chargé d’Affaires Earl Miller during a virtual meeting they had yesterday morning.
The CEO said this will further contribute to job creation in the country and provide a more stable income for low-income earners.
“Trade Agreements, are the U.S and the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), which includes Eswatini signed a Trade, Investment, and Development Cooperative Agreement (TIDCA) in 2008.
“The TIDCA establishes a forum for consultative discussions, cooperative work, and possible agreements on a wide range of trade issues, with a special focus on customs and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, and trade and investment promotion,” she said during the meeting.
Worth noting is that Eswatini is also a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the U.S in 2001.
In 2019, Eswatini’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was an estimated E4.7 billion (current market exchange rates); real GDP was up by an estimated 1.0 percent; and the population was 1 million.
Constant went on to mention that Eswatini is currently their 189th largest goods trading partner with E36 million in total from 2019 to date.
She said goods exports totaled lE20 million; goods imports totaled E16 million. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Eswatini was E4 million in 2021.
Eswatini was the United States’ 163rd largest supplier of goods imports in 2019.
Practising Economist Buyisile Mthethwa said a lot of contributions had been made by both countries to each other, she said continued relations would only make the future business establishment a success.
She made examples of medical instruments, machinery, and electrical machinery that is imported.
“If the U.S total imports of agricultural products from Eswatini totals up to E12 million imagine what more we could make, and the leading category is raw beef and cane,” she said.
