Business in focus as India’s Modi heads to South Africa this week
July 4, 2016, 10:19 am

File photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd from left) greets South African President Jacob Zuma (2nd from right) at a BRICS Summit in Brazil [Xinhua]

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has said a key objective would be “to enhance commercial and business relations with India and to promote private sector to private sector contact”.

“In this regard a chief executive officers’ (CEOs) Forum and a South Africa-India Business Forum are planned to be held during the visit in order to facilitate business opportunities,” Nkoana-Mashabane wrote in an oped in South African daily New Age on Monday.

Trade Minister Rob Davies also asserted that “efforts are underway to promote exports of value added products” to India.

Davies was briefing the media about the agenda of talks between Indian and South African leaders on Monday.

Modi will head to South Africa from Mozambique on 7 July.

The Indian Prime Minister will hold talks with BRICS partner and South African President Jacob Zuma. A number of bilateral agreements are under consideration and some of these will be inked during Modi’s trip, the Foreign Minister announced at a press briefing in Pretoria on Monday.

Bilateral trade in 2015 amounted to about R95 billion.

“India is a strategic partner to South Africa. India is now South Africa’s 6th largest trade partner… There will be a business forum on 8 July for South African and Indian businesses to engage,” Trade Minister Davies told reporters on Monday.

“Some of the products we will promote in India include South African wines,” he added.

Official trade data shows India’s exports to South Africa increased from Rand 29 billion in 2011 to Rand 54 billion in 2015. South African companies have also grown their investments in India with a total of 24 projects, Davies claimed.

Ahead of Modi’s visit, senior Ministers sought to highlight India’s historical camaraderie with South Africa.

“India played a leading role in isolating the apartheid regime, resulting in a shared history of friendship and solidarity. India also provided consistent support to the liberation movement during South Africa’s struggle for democracy,” Foreign Minister Nkoana-Mashabane wrote on Monday.

South Africa and India, alongwith other BRICS partners, play a crucial role in global politics. BRICS have taken similar stands on Syria, vociferously opposing the demands by Western capitals to oust Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

“On the political front, the countries remain ever-friendly and many of the foreign policy objectives, which both countries share are pursued both bilaterally and multilaterally, especially through South-South initiatives,” the South African Foreign Minister added.

“South Africa and India are both committed members of BRICS,” she asserted at a press briefing in Pretoria on Monday.

Meanwhile, Modi will address members of the Indian diaspora in Johannesburg on 8 July, Indian media reports said.

“The Prime Minister’s visit reflects India’s desire to further strengthen and reinvigorate bilateral ties with our African partners which were renewed at the successful IAFS-III in October last year. The visit will provide opportunities to build on close contacts at the highest political level,” Vikas Swarup, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the media on Friday in New Delhi.

South Africa has positioned itself as the gateway into the African continent for Asian partners like China and India.

However, rising incidents of race-related attacks in India have embarrassed the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi.

In May, the African Heads of Mission in New Delhi announced a boycott of this year’s Africa Day celebrations in the wake of rising racist attacks.

India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has repeatedly sought to assuage African envoys this summer “of the Indian government’s commitment to the safety and security of African nationals”.

African Heads of Mission chief and Eritrean Ambassador Alem Tsehage Woldemariam has said the group has noted with deep concern that “several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators”.

He said that given the climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, “the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be granted”.

TBP