South Africa's (SA) Deputy President, Paul Mashatile is in Russia to boost trade ties and promote the country as an investment destination.

During his working visit, he'll be rubbing elbows with global business leaders at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The goal of the visit is to strengthen bilateral economic and trade ties between South Africa and Russia, with a big focus on the agriculture, automotive, energy and mining industries as well as science and technology cooperation. Trade turnover has been steadily growing between the countries and exceeded $1.2 billion last year, with almost a half coming from the agriculture industry.

Moscow has been expanding its ties with its non-western partners. Mashatile will visit two Russian cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg to attend high-level engagements as well as economic diplomacy activities.

In Moscow, Mashatile is due to meet with Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishutin and in St. Petersburg, ahead of the annual Forum. Mashatile is also expected to participate in the forum's key event, the plenary session  along with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

Mashatile has also been invited to participate as a speaker in the Russia-Africa Business Dialogue. This year, International Economic Forum is held under the theme of "Shared Values: The Foundation of Growth in a Multipolar World".

--SABC--