Trade expansion discussed at first India-South Africa business Summit in Johannesburg

May 03, 2018: In series of bilateral meetings with Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa and ministers from Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu pledged to take an economic partnership between the two countries forward.

These discussions took place during India- South Africa business summit from April 29-30, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Suresh Prabhu also met ministers from Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and participated in the India-SADC Dialogue attended by ministers and business leaders who pledged their effort for achieving prosperity through trade, investment and economic cooperation.

The Minister addressed the plenary session of the Summit and talked about building synergies between India and South Africa which are united by legacy and unified for prosperity.  Minister added that the summit was a harbinger of good things to come and that South Africa and India were poised to take off in the next few years on a higher growth trajectory. He also talked about two oldest friends coming together for extending partnership towards a new progressive era through the business summit.

The Minister said both sides will work through a time-bound action plan to benefit from this summit.

During the stay in South Africa, the Minister visited the Tata Motors, South Africa assembly plant at Rosslyn near Pretoria. He appreciated the work by Tata Motors in providing employment to local people.

At the end of the tour, the Minister met the Indian diaspora and said that they are a bridge between the two countries for more than 150 years and the diaspora is a great hope for the future of economic and commercial cooperation.