JEDDAH — Consul General of South Africa Shoayb Casoo, who was posted in January, expressed happiness at being in Saudi Arabia and aims to build on bilateral relations between the two countries, he told Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview. He said: “I knew somehow about Jeddah when I visited it a few years ago for a short period of time. “I had a good idea about Jeddah from some friends living here. “My adjustment was quite good as I came in January where the weather was cool and nice. Now that it has become hotter, I believe it is one of the main challenges in Jeddah in addition to traffic, which are all normal and I am easily adjusted to these challenges.” Casoo said he understood that due to the hot weather, most of the activities and events are held in the evening and that is the adjustment that he has had to make because he was not used to that lifestyle. He said he appreciated the Saudi authorities' help and efficiency in getting all his papers done quickly. He also expressed appreciation to Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah, for his help and support. He said he liked the idea that daily life revolves around prayer times. “There is nowhere easier to perform salah (prayer) in the world than in Saudi Arabia. I must compliment Saudi Arabia for that.” He reserved praise for the Saudi people. “My biggest challenge is to get and know Saudi society. If you work in a country you have to know the people. It is very important to know the Saudi nationals. “My experience with them is so nice; they are very friendly, generous, hospitable and respectable.” He said authorities in the Kingdom have managed the Haj and Umrah seasons well. “The efforts of the authorities to facilitate the services for people performing Umrah and Haj are enormous. “This makes even our life easy as consulate members concerned with our nationals coming for Haj and Umrah.” Discussing relations between his country and Saudi Arabia, Casoo said: “Our country has had 21 years of freedom, so compared to Egypt and Saudi Arabia we are very young. In the 80s we had representation in 24 or 25 countries, yet we have had rapid expansion and currently 136 missions and consulates in countries represent us.” He said in 1994 and 1995 there were no representations in the Gulf region and trade was zero, while South Africans came for Haj through Nairobi or Cairo. “Since 1995 we have opened up and the only countries where we do not have consulates at the moment are Bahrain, for which we have an honorary consulate. “For Yemen, the ambassador in Riyadh is accredited to that country.” He said South African exports to the Kingdom have grown and bilateral trade is valued at more than $85 billion. South Africa imports 50 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia. In the past few years export of fruits and vegetables has doubled. South Africa is also focusing on increasing retail trade to Saudi Arabia. “We have been working with distributors here on how we can identify our products but the market is almost saturated. “We have the Ocean Basket franchise specializing in seafood, which will open in about 6 months. We are thinking of going to niche areas like the health sector and organic products.” He said a ban on South African meat that has already been lifted in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait is in the process of being overturned in Saudi Arabia. Casoo also wanted to improve the number of Saudis visiting his country. “The current numbers of Saudis going for tourism in South Africa are something between 5,000-8,000 tourists, and that is a relatively low number. “Saudis who visited South Africa had an excellent experience and they are keen to repeat it again and again; they also tell their families and friends. He was also keen to improve investment opportunities for his country. “There are areas where we can share our technology with Saudi Arabia. “South African technology is world class, for example, in mining, tourism and social services. In addition to manufacturing and industry South Africa is experienced in economic and industrial development zones and infrastructure. “Water sanitation, water systems and coastal managements are other fields that South Africa is experienced in.” “There are many fields and areas of cooperation between the two countries but we must understand that it is a new relationship.” There are 5,000 to 7,000 South Africans in Saudi Arabia, according to the consul general. “Most of the South Africans here are professionals such as nurses, technicians, doctors, teachers, finance, banking, and property management.” He encouraged them to register with the South Africans Abroad program. Casoo suggested there was not enough demand for a South African international school and said the community's main education challenge was “the school year timing, which is completely different (to South Africa) here. “Also the curriculum in South Africa is not the same as here.”
