Prabhu visits Johannesburg to boost trade, investments

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu will hold bilateral consultations with his South African counterpart tomorrow on ways to further boost trade and investment between the countries.

Prabhu is leading a high level business delegation to Johannesburg to participate in the two day India-South Africa Business Summit, beginning tomorrow.

The summit has the tag line United by Legacy, Unified for Prosperity and seeks to maximise the potential of the economic and commercial partnership between the countries, a commerce ministry official said.

Issues, which would be discussed during the business event, include increasing cooperation in areas such as startups, automobiles, healthcare, pharma, mining and agro processing.

Besides, Prabhu will hold discussions with Southern African Development Community (SADC) to strengthen economic ties. This bloc includes Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius and Seychelles.

With declining exports in the recent months, India is looking at increasing shipments in this region.

There are over 130 Indian companies in South Africa which have invested about USD 8 billion, employing about 18,000 South Africans.

The total bilateral trade between India and South Africa dipped to USD 9.38 billion in 2016-17 from USD 9.53 billion in the previous fiscal.

South African companies have invested USD 433 million between April 2000 and December 2017 in India.