By Andrei Skvarsky.
There is considerable and growing interest among Russian companies in investing in South Africa, according to a study based on surveys and cited by a South African government agency responsible for managing the country’s global reputation.
Increasing numbers of Russian businesspeople consider starting business in South Africa and there is a decline among those who rule out making the country part of their business geography, the Brand South Africa agency said in a statement, citing a study by Paris-headquartered global market research firm Ipsos.
The study involved two surveys, one in 2016 and one in 2017, among Russian business executives authorised to make investment decisions.
While in the 2016 survey 68 per cent of respondents said they considered doing business in South Africa, the proportion was 76 per cent in the 2017 poll.
Ten per cent of those questioned in the 2017 survey were currently doing business in South Africa while none in the 2016 poll had any current business presence there.
The 2017 survey also suggested there had been a numerical decline among Russian entrepreneurs who ruled out any chance of launching business in South Africa – 8 per cent expressed this attitude in 2017 survey compared with 20 per cent in the 2016 poll.
The study suggests that cheap labour and a favourable climate are seen by Russian businesspeople as the greatest attractions of South Africa, and that politics are the main obstacle to Russian investment in that country.
Brand South Africa said in its statement that, overall, 78 per cent of respondents had spoken positively about South Africa, that 82 per cent had expressed respect for the country, and that 44 per cent were willing to recommend South Africa as a country to invest in.
In seeking more foreign capital, South Africa has set up a one stop shop service for investors – InvestSA, a division of the Department of Trade and Industry. InvestSA handles all the regulation, registration and licensing for investors.
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