South Africa is intensifying efforts to expand its agricultural export footprint in Asia, targeting Indonesia’s $29 billion import market as part of a high-level trade mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
The delegation aims to strengthen market access for key products such as wine, beef, and fruit while pursuing broader trade diversification across the region.
According to Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), Indonesia is central to this strategy.
Although Indonesia currently represents only 0.3% of South Africa’s global agricultural exports, valued at around $39 million out of $13.7 billion in 2024, the country’s significant demand for agricultural imports presents vast untapped potential.
Indonesia sources most of its agricultural imports, wheat, sugar, rice, soybean oilcake, soybeans, maize, cocoa beans, beef, onions, apples, pears, grapes, and peanuts, from suppliers such as Brazil, China, Australia, the United States, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, and India.
Sihlobo notes that this composition partly explains South Africa’s limited participation to date, but underscores that ample opportunity exists for expanding beef, fruit, and wine exports.
The visit also includes Malaysia and Vietnam, which respectively account for 1.4% and 0.6% of South Africa’s agricultural exports.
Both are important importers of food and agricultural goods, and the mission seeks to deepen relationships through negotiations to reduce import tariffs and phytosanitary barriers.
Sihlobo observes that South Africa has traditionally adopted a cautious, piecemeal approach to market openings, often avoiding ambitious trade agreements due to domestic sensitivities.
Most of the country’s agricultural export success still stems from trade access secured in the early 2000s. With growing global geopolitical tensions and rising domestic production, he argues that a shift toward more assertive export strategies is essential.
“Half of our agricultural produce, in value terms, is already exported,” Sihlobo writes. “If we are to sustain the expansion in production, it will have to be through exports.”
He emphasizes that this objective is jointly supported by both government and business stakeholders. Sihlobo also stresses the need to strengthen institutional capacity to negotiate and implement trade agreements.
“We may no longer have the skills we had in the early 2000s,” he cautions, urging greater investment in training officials and aligning political priorities to sustain export growth.
Beyond agriculture, the economist calls for broader national efforts to promote economic diplomacy and investment opportunities across sectors.
“As all this is happening, domestic reforms and improvements in municipal functioning and crime prevention must continue,” he adds. “They are prerequisites for the growth of exporting firms and farming businesses.”
MOST READ | Carney Targets Doubling Canada’s Non-U.S. Exports in 10 Years
