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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The finance chief of Britain says he sees big opportunities to build on trade ties with South Africa, which is Britain's biggest export market in Africa.
Philip Hammond, whose title is chancellor of the exchequer, spoke Thursday in Cape Town during an overseas tour to reassure global partners ahead of Britain's planned departure from the European Union.
"We see huge opportunities to build on what is already a very substantial collaboration, the U.K. is the biggest investor in South Africa's economy, a key trade partner," said Hammond, while visiting a project to encourage financial technology startups. "As we look to the global economy to see our future in the wider world, we certainly want to build on those established platforms that we have both for investment and for trade."
Bilateral trade between Britain and South Africa reached nearly 8 billion pounds in 2015.
After South Africa, Hammond is to visit Japan and South Korea.
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