Russia-South Africa Trade Increased 26% To $797Mln In 2018 - Minister

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2018) Trade between Russia and South Africa grew by 26 percent to $797 million in 2018, Co-Chairman of the Russia-South Africa Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation Dmitry Kobylkin said Wednesday.

"Trade between Russia and South Africa increased by 26 percent compared with 2017 and amounted to $797 million ... We are hoping that it will reach $1 billion by the end of the year, " Kobylkin said during a commission meeting.

Kobylkin, the Russian minister of natural resources and environment, who co-chairs the commission together with South African Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, noted that South Africa accounted for 20 percent of Russia's cumulative trade with all the countries in the region.

Kobylkin also added that 16 legal instruments including bilateral cooperation programs were under development.

The intergovernmental commission on trade is an annual bilateral economic cooperation mechanism between Russia and South Africa. The last session was held in November 2016 in Pretoria.