The partnership in BRICS and bilateral agreements between India and South Africa are starting to deliver dividends, the convenor of the ruling African National Congress' business forum said today.
Daryl Swanepoel, convenor of the African National Congress Progressive Business Forum, was one of the speakers at a meeting in Johannesburg hosted by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to encourage investment and joint ventures between the two countries.
"We must recognise that we have only started to scratch the surface of the potential that exists," Swanepoel said as he highlighted some of the achievements in the 20 years since Nelson Mandela first brought democracy to the South African population.
Also Read
"The focus now moves to how can we improve trade flow between the two countries," Swanepoel said, as he listed the steps needed for this.
The steps mentioned by him included the need to improve market access conditions; trade reforms that make doing business between the two countries easier and more efficient; and expanding the India-Southern African Customs Union Preferential Trade Agreement towards a comprehensive economic co-operation agreement incorporating services and investments.
"We need to look at how to strengthen strategic partnerships across core industries such as Healthcare, Energy and Infrastructure and invest in sectors that facilitate knowledge and skills transfer," Swanepoel said.
"The Progressive Business Forum has a well-established, warm and growing relationship with the Confederation of Indian Industry, who have been most helpful to us over the last three years that we have in the spirit of our partnership in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) been promoting trade and industry between our two countries," he said.
Swanepoel said that South Africa's export markets had changed considerably over the past 20 years.
"New markets have emerged, while the share of exports to some traditional markets, such as United Kingdom, Japan and Europe, has declined. India is now South Africa's fifth-largest export destination, having overtaken both the United Kingdom and Switzerland," he noted.
"Bilateral trade between India and South Africa has increased by 31 per cent to USD 7.6 billion in the just ended financial year, against USD 5. 8 billion in the same period last fiscal," he pointed out.
"The emergence of Africa as a strategic trading partner for India has been rapid and dramatic. In 2005, Africa accounted for 3.5 per cent of India's total imports - a share which more than doubled to 8.6 per cent by 2011," Swanepoel added.
