 "South Africa keen on biz ties with UP")
A delegation led by SA deputy high commissioner Malose Mogale on Monday held a meeting with local businessmen under the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The delegation would also be visiting Varanasi and Kanpur to meet industrialists.
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Mogale said SA was the gateway to Africa, which compositely formed the third largest consumer base in the world with 250 million consumers, after China and India.
“We are keen on forging business and trade partnerships in value added products,” Molage said.
SA primarily exports commodities to India, including coal. The country wants Indian businessmen to contribute to the human resources development in SA through technology transfer and manpower training.
Molage said SA would organise two-way business trips to facilitate firsthand information exchange about mutual business opportunities existing in the two countries.
SA offered business opportunities in areas of food processing, machinery/equipment, metals, automobile components and defense equipment.
The African nation is actively taking measures to tackle its high unemployment rate, which currently stands at 24 per cent. It wants to reduce unemployment rate to 14 and 6 per cent by 2020 and 2030 respectively.
Since UP has the largest Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) base in India at over 3 million, the sector offers untapped avenues of mutual cooperation. SA has recently instituted a ministry for the sector to fight poverty and augment economic growth and job creation in the country.
SA offered tax incentives to industries in the notified special economic zones (SEZ), Mogale informed.
CII UP state council head Sachin Agarwal said UP had the largest consumer base in India and the state was a hub for many traditional industries.