President Cyril Ramaphosa will today, Wednesday 14 September 2022, embark on working visits to the United States of America (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) to respectively build relations with South Africa’s third largest trading partner and attend the State Funeral Service of Her Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
President Ramaphosa today departs for Washington DC in the United States where he will honor the invitation of His Excellency President Joe Biden for an interaction between the two leaders.
The leaders will meet at the White House on Friday, September 16 to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, including trade and investment, climate change, food security, energy, peace and security.
President Ramaphosa will reaffirm the importance of the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between South Africa and the United States. The President will also emphasize the need to expand multilateral interaction and dialogue as a means of solving the problems facing humanity. Among them is the need to urgently stimulate the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Washington, President Ramaphosa and his delegation will meet with congressional leaders and veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, who were instrumental in lobbying the American public against apartheid and who remain committed to the fight against racism in both the United States and South Africa. .
The United States is a major export market for South Africa, a significant source of foreign direct investment (FDI), technology transfer, development assistance and tourism.
The trade and investment relationship takes place under the auspices of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for value-added goods. AGOA has created jobs in both South Africa and the US and is therefore mutually beneficial.
The United States is South Africa’s third largest trading partner (after China and the European Union), with more than 600 American companies operating in South Africa.
In 2021, the United States was South Africa’s second largest export in the world.
According to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), the United States accounts for 17.4% of South Africa’s total FDI in the world.
The President’s visit to the United States provides a platform to strengthen bilateral relations with the United States through interactions with President Biden.
State memorial service of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
On Saturday 17 September 2022, President Ramaphosa will travel from Washington to London, UK to attend the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
After arriving in London on Sunday, September 18, the President will attend a Royal Reception – a reception hosted by His Majesty King Charles III for heads of state and government and guests invited to a state funeral – at Buckingham Palace.
On Monday, September 19, the president will be among the world leaders attending Her Majesty The Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London.
Immediately following the state funeral service, UK Foreign Secretary, Member of Parliament James Cleverley will host a reception for heads of state and government and other dignitaries in the grounds of Westminster Abbey.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the President of the Republic of South Africa.
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