Since the start of the sixth democratic administration in May 2019, I have attended six international summits, covering both political and economic issues. These are the: G20 Summit in Japan; African Union Extraordinary Summit in Niger; SADC Summit in Tanzania; Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development in Japan; Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia.
These gatherings provided an opportunity for South Africa to advance its foreign policy and promote its economic interests. At the G20 Summit in June, for example,
leaders reaffirmed their support for the necessary reform of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, to improve its functioning. They agreed that action is necessary regarding the functioning of the dispute settlement system consistent with the rules as negotiated by WTO members. On the margins of the G20 Summit, we participated in a Japan-South Africa business roundtable with business people from South Africa as well as from Japan.
Among other things, this roundtable generated leads for possible investment projects in sectors such as minerals processing, automotives and battery production. It also provided opportunities for our farmers who export fruit and vegetables to Japan to be able to interact with their counterparts and indeed with government officials there. I have spoken about this before in this very House how our grape farmers have wanted to export grapes into Japan; the seedless grape and they are being prevented by their processes in Japan. We were able to get them to interact and to raise the matter with the Prime Minister of Japan.
Through these engagements we were able to strengthen relations also with Japanese Business Community. This is important as Japan is South Africa's fifth largest trading partner and one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment into South Africa. We have got hundreds of Japanese companies invested here. They use South Africa also as a gateway into the rest of the continent.
The African Union Summit in Niger in July 2019 launched the operational phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and directed that the outstanding work on tariff schedules, rules of origin and commitments on trade in services be submitted to their next Session in February 2020 for adoption. The decisions of the summit are significant for the South African economy since the African Continental Free Trade Area promises great opportunities for trade with other countries on the continent, broadening our manufacturing based and boosting employment in our own country.
The SADC Summit which happened in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania gave impetus to the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap and adopted the
Regional Mining Vision and Action Plan. Together, these programmes aim to increase co-operation among countries in Southern Africa on building regional value chains and enable countries to expand their manufacturing base and diversify their exports.
The Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development, Ticad, which was held in Japan in August, resulted in a commitment from Japan to contribute to economic transformation in Africa and improve the business environment through innovation and private sector engagement. The Government of Japan undertook to bolster diversification and industrialisation, support Japanese investment in Africa, and offer support to the development of regional agricultural capability.
The first Russia-Africa Summit, which was held in Sochi last week, focused on forging economic ties between Russia and African countries, developing joint projects, and collaborating in the humanitarian and social sectors. In addition to the discussion between government leaders, there were also productive engagements between Russian and South African businesses. We have a number of
businesses that are invested in Russia which you might know about.
All these processes have helped to increase co-operation in areas such as mining, information and communication technology and oil extraction. While these international summits do not directly create jobs, they can contribute to an improved environment for investment, trade and co- operation. They provide a platform for the South African government and business to promote the investment opportunities in the country, to explore new markets and to forge strategic partnerships.
It was at this conference that we were able to invite a number of Russian businesses to come and attend our investment conference next week. Some of them will be coming and they also provide an opportunity to advance South Africa's position on a range of issues, like the reform of the multilateral institutions to international support for Africa's development.
The agreements that we reached and partnerships that were forged at these summits make an important contribution
for economic growth, development and job creation. This is where as we travel and get our companies to move with us in these visits, we inform them that they should participate meaningfully because they can move from contact with other companies to contract. In fact we have found a number of them are able to sign up a number of contracts with their counterparts and these are usually mutually beneficial. Thank you very much.