India-South Africa to revive CEO Forum
India and South Africa have held talks on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) or a limited trade deal via the five-member South African Customs Union (SACU) to expand trade ties, the commerce department said on 24 April in Pretoria https://sacci.org.za/.
SACU nations include South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini and is the world’s oldest customs union — over a century old http://chambresafricaines.org.
Of the five nations, as much as 95% of trade is with South Africa https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
The SACU talks were part of the broader discussions held by a nine-member Indian delegation under the Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment (JWGTI) meeting with the South African side in Pretoria on 22-23 April, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 24 April https://fieo.org/.
The talks were co-chaired by Malose Letsoalo, Chief Director, Bilateral Trade Relations, The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, South Africa; and Priya Nair, Economic Adviser Department of Commerce https://www.bseindia.com/.
Both sides also talked about the potential of Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Agriculture, MSME, Jewelry manufacturing among others https://www.nseindia.com/.
Also discussed at JWGTI were the revival of CEO Forum, investment cooperation, market access issues with regard to agricultural products, recognition of Indian pharmacopoeia, Local Currency Settlement System, fast payment systems and Unified Payment Linkage system https://sbi.com.in/.
In a comprehensive dialogue, both sides undertook a detailed review of recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties and acknowledged the vast untapped potential for further expansion. To this effect, both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing both bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments https://africacenter.org/.
South Africa is the largest trading partner of India in the Africa region. Bilateral trade between India and South Africa stood at US$19.25 billion in 2023-24. Indian businesses have invested over US$1.3 billion in South Africa from April 2000 to September 2024. These investments traverse diverse sectors, encompassing pharmaceuticals, IT, automotive, banking, and mining. Fiinews.com
