Date:12/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091204361300.htm

National

South Africa plans boost to trade with India

Special Correspondent

Both countries can collaborate in many areas, says Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Says India could open BPOs in her country
MEA official says India, South Africa share strategic ties with Brazil

Special projects on cooperation developed

NEW DELHI: South Africa aims at a $12 billion trade target with India by 2010, its Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Monday.

Trade between the two nations witnessed a quantum jump in 2005, with exports from South Africa rising by over 100 per cent and imports 55 per cent, she said. The increase, however, was not balanced because of its structural connections, fuelled by the black middle class and the strong dependence of a third of its population on social grants.

Hence, the Accelerated and Shared Growth-South Africa (ASGISA) sought to speed up the pace of GDP growth and create a shared economy through targeted interventions in the second economy in South Africa.

The ASGISA aimed at minimising unemployment by 15 per cent and halving the poverty level by 2014. India could facilitate technology for production and become a supplier of construction infrastructure in South Africa, she said.

Potential area

The country planned an investment of $55 billion in infrastructure. Another area of collaboration was tourism. The tourism industry aimed to increase the number of visitors from seven million now a year to 10 million by 2010.

Another potential area for collaboration was business process outsourcing, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka said. India could open BPOs in South Africa and take advantage of the same time zone with Europe and similar language accents.

Both countries could collaborate in training people in project management, education, ICTs, engineering and health sectors.

Some 700 people had been trained in South Africa to motivate micro-enterprises in different parts of the country.

This training had been conducted with the help of the CII. "We urge India to locate their textiles business in South Africa," she said

Joint Secretary (E&SA) in the Ministry of External Affairs N. Chauhan said India and South Africa shared a strategic trilateral relationship with Brazil and looked forward to a strategic partnership in 2006.

Conclave

Special projects on cooperation had been developed in investment, technology, community development, communications, ICTs, education and public service.

The Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership 2005 had created a platform for better understanding to propagate and build long-term, sustainable economic relations, he said.