TRADE BETWEEN SINGAPORE AND AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Mr Ho Kah Leong asked the Minister for Finance since the Trade Mission to Africa what is the progress of trade between Singapore and the African countries.

Mr Ramaswamy (for the Minister for Finance): The Trade Mission to Africa visited seven African States in March and April this year. Since its return, a continuous flow of trade inquiries from Africa has been received. Individual merchants from Africa have also visited Singapore and concluded business with our own manufacturers and traders. The Manager of the Zambian Trade Fair recently came here to persuade our manufacturers to participate in the Zambian Trade Fair to be held next year. We would consider favourably participation in this Fair.

Trade between several African countries and ourselves has shown encouraging increases. These countries are the United Arab Republic, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. An increasing amount and variety of locally manufactured goods are finding markets in Africa. Exports of products such as tyres, tubes and steel pipes have shown substantial increases in the first 11 months of this year, compared with the same period last year. For instance, exports of tyres and tubes increased from $121,000 in 1965 to $674,000 this year. Similarly, exports of steel pipes have increased from $40,000 last year to $330,000 this year. We are confident that with active export promotion, our goods will find ready acceptance in African markets in terms of price, quality as well as delivery.