00:20It's very important to us, given the shake-up in the world's trade infrastructure through
00:27the unilateral tariffs imposed by the U.S., it's meant that South Africa, along with many
00:33other countries in the world, have had to broaden our horizons in terms of looking at
00:37places to sell South African agricultural products.
00:41And so this tariff regime with China now comes at a very opportune time for us.
00:46We were one of the first to land under the zero tariff, 24 tons of apples there, and obviously
00:52it's going to be a game-changer for South African agriculture, because now we can start to
00:57make inroads into that market in China, which is so significant.
01:15As we've seen in the citrus and deciduous fruit sector, that when the demand increases internationally,
01:20the supply has to match that demand, which means you're seeing expansion in those particular
01:26industries.
01:27And with that expansion comes jobs, upstream and downstream jobs.
01:31With that becomes more opportunities for more people.
01:34So it's completely net positive for South Africa.
01:37It also helps us to address some of the trade imbalance that exists between the two countries.
01:42And China needs a good supply, counter-seasonal, good quality agricultural products.
01:47And given the existing partnership that we have through BRICS and FOCAC and the others...
02:00So we're currently in negotiations for cherries, after the back of a very successful stone fruit
02:05protocol.
02:06For the first time ever, China did five different varieties at one time, which was a game-changer
02:12for us, cherries is next on the list, blueberries after that.
02:17We're hoping to sign the cherry protocol in July, just in time for the cherry season in South Africa.
02:31We're hoping to sign the cherry protocol in July, just in time for the cherry season in South Africa.
02:32We're hoping to sign abstractly.
02:32So I'll do that, we'll get going.
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