UK and South African Cabinet Ministers have promised to try to revive the flailing target of doubling trade between the two countries by 2015, despite the global economic crisis having put a brake on these efforts.

The promise was made during the tenth South Africa – UK Bilateral Forum, held in Cape Town, this week.

“We want to redouble our efforts to expand trade,” UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague said at the event, which is held biennially.

The UK has dropped to being South Africa’s seventh-largest export market; however, it remains South Africa’s largest source of foreign direct investment.

“We are still committed to doubling our trade targets by 2015, although the financial crisis has put a dampener on our plans. We were hoping the green shoots would be green plants by now. We haven’t moved at the speed we anticipated because of global economic challenges,” said South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

The two countries are hoping to boost trade, in part, through the work of the SA–UK Business Council. They are also very keen to grow the pool of young South African entrepreneurs, an issue that was discussed at the parallel-run Bilateral Youth Forum, and which South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation, on Monday, highlighted at the release of its financial results.

The two Ministers agreed that their respective countries shared close and deep relations, which they intended to entrench further.

The bilateral forum focused on issues ranging from boosting trade and investment to the sensitive issue of visa requirements and the UK and South Africa’s stance on Egypt, Syria and Zimbabwe.

Hague largely side-stepped the prickly issue of visas. South Africans have had to apply for tourist visas to visit the UK since the UK revoked South Africa’s visa-free policy in 2009. The South African government has called on the UK to change its policy and, this year, threatened a reciprocal visa regime. British visitors currently do not need visas to enter South Africa.

“We need to look at it [again]…on what would give us positive impetus. We have encouraged officials to quicken their steps,” Hague said at a media briefing after talks with Nkoana-Mashabane. In an opening statement at the Forum, earlier,  he said that progress was being made on the visa front.

British tourists continue to stream to South Africa, with 438 000 British tourist arrivals recorded for 2012.

“This sign of growth shows that we are taking full advantage of our diasporic communities in each of our countries. Our ‘people to people’ connections are closer than they have ever been,” said Hague.

However, both Ministers said there were issues they did not completely agree on.

Hague took a much stronger stance than South Africa when commenting on the recent elections in Zimbabwe, in which President Robert Mugabe again emerged the victor.

Hague called for an independent investigation into the results of the election. “We were happy they were peaceful, which is good…but being credible and fair is another matter.”

Nkoana-Mashabane said South Africa needed to work with the people of Zimbabwe to improve the economy. She also called for all vestiges of sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted.