"This is a step in the right direction! If the business doors are open or 10 multi-year visas entry are issued, that will no doubt boost our economic
growth," Brian Molefe, chairman of BRICS Business Council SA, told Xinhua.
With an open visa Mathew Barzal Islanders Jersey , coupled with a free trade policy, an estimated three million jobs can be created every month within the grouping,
according to Molefe.
A number of South African business organisations have been pushing for the scrapping of visas among BRICS members so as to make doing business and
travelling easier.
Trade and economic experts say South Africa's strict visa regulations have become the main impediment for mutual economic and trade deals among BRICS
members.
The BRICS countries together have a combined Gross Domestic Product of 33 trillion US dollars and accounted for 17 percent of global trade last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday called for visa-free travel for tourists from India and South Africa, in a move to boost Russia's ailing tourist
industry which has been hit by the falling ruble and foreign travel restrictions
for Russian officials.
"In order to attract foreign tourists we may provide further simplification of visa formalities, for example, to expand the practice of visa-free exchanges
for tourist groups. It may be applied to all BRICS countries," Putin said at a
session of the State Council Presidium in Crimea.
South Africa has been criticized for its heavy handedness in dealing with foreigners John Tavares Womens Jersey , and tight visa regulations, which have already impeded tourism growth.
"Interestingly, South Africa is more open to the countries in the West like the UK and US than her BRICS partners despite political talk of interaction and
cooperation,"said Dr James Matthews, a lecturer in international relations at
the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg.
Lunga Ngqengelele, spokesperson for SA Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba, said Andrew Ladd Womens Jersey ,"You may not be aware that BRICS countries that carry official and diplomatic passports are exempted from visa requirements.What
remains to be dealt with are passport holders of ordinary people and business
persons to be exempted for those countries."
Notwithstanding, a South Africa businessman, Peter Daniels of Metal and Steel Company based in Johannesburg said, "SA is the only BRICS member country that
offers a 10-year multiple-entry visa to business people in the grouping. All the
BRICS members should also take a leave from South Africa and do the same."
Brazil does not require visa for South Africa nationals and vice versa, according to Paul Murray of Immigration Solutions, a company that provides
immigration consultancy.
He noted that for South Africans visiting China, they need a visa Mathew Barzal Womens Jersey , which costs an average of US$ 50 and the process takes about four working days. And visitors from China are not spared of
these hassles when they want to visit either South Africa or India.
The number of tourists from China dropped by almost a quarter in 2014 when less than 83, 000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa, down from 109,000 in
2013, according to a report compiled by the Tourism Business Council of South
Africa in June.
South African President Jacob Zuma said earlier this year that his country was making efforts to remove trade barriers and promote investment
opportunities, therefore it was necessary to remove barriers so as to help BRICS
countries grow faster and create more jobs.
"
LERWICK, Scotland Adidas John Tavares Jersey , Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese opera artists from southwestern Chongqing Municipality Monday evening made debuts of classic
Sichuan Opera and celebrated the Lantern Festival at the northernmost art center
in Britain.
After 16 hours of bumpy journey in the North Sea, performers of Chongqing Chuan Ju Theater finally arrived in the capital city of Shetland, Lerwick, on
Monday morning.
Young performers performed several classic episodes of Sichuan Opera at Mareel, the most northerly music, cinema and creative industries center in
Britain on Monday evening.
Performers first exhibited some highlights of the 300-year-old Sichuan Opera, one of the oldest local operas in China Adidas Andrew Ladd Jersey , including the five types of characters and various kinds of performing techniques, costumes and music.
Comic ""Gun Deng"", one of the programs, showed the performer's excellent acrobatic skills by crawling under two 40-centimeter-high benches with an oil
lamp on his head.
They successfully amused the audience through their wonderful performance and humoristic facial expressions and words, and won warm applause and cheering.
""It was incredible and amazing, and so colorful and spectacular. I really enjoyed the 'Oil Lamp'. I thought that was really very funny and the two actors
were superstars. The performance is different from television. I'd like to see
more,"" said Brian Spence Adidas Mathew Barzal Jersey ,following the show.
Beth Cumming, a mother of three children, told Xinhua: ""The opera is really good. It is something really different. I like the costumes and their face
paintings. I love experiencing anything different and particularly, the opera
performance troupe has come all the way here, and I think it is such a great
opportunity for the children to see something so different.""
Juan Brown, a local resident, said there's a very small Chinese community living in Shetland Authentic John Tavares Jersey , so some local people have limited contact with Chinese culture.
""It's good for people to see other cultures and something like this is great, cause it's not only entertaining, but also offering an insight into
another culture,"" he added.
Wang Qi, the actor of ""Oil Lamp"", said ""I fear I couldn't perform well today because the waves were . Patrice Evra France Jersey Ross Barkley England Jersey Milan Badelj Croatia Jersey Roger Martinez Colombia Jersey Thiago Silva Brazil Jersey Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey Maxi Pereira Uruguay Jersey Xherdan Shaqiri Switzerland Jersey Sebastian Holmen Sweden Jersey Wholesale Chicago White Sox Jerseys
