The Hindu Business Line : South African envoy moots joint ventures in power, mining

Mr Moloi urged Indian businessmen to identify the major obstacles to more free trade between the two countries, especially in potential areas like pharmaceuticals.

Mr Francis Moloi

Kolkata , Nov. 25

DESCRIBING his country as the producer of the cheapest electricity in the world, Mr Francis Moloi, High Commissioner of South Africa in India, said here on Thursday that there now existed a solid base for joint ventures between Indian and South African businessmen in areas such as power generation, mineral beneficiation and jewellery design and manufacture.

Speaking at an interactive session on "India-South Africa Economic Cooperation: Opportunities Unlimited", organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata, Mr Moloi said there was now enormous scope for economic cooperation between the two countries in infrastructure, particularly roads, ports, etc.

Driving home the point that governments can only provide the policy framework, and that actual business can be done only by entrepreneurs, the envoy said the ball was now squarely in the court of businessmen on both sides.

He said the South African Government was using tax and other incentives to spur the development of small, medium and micro businesses, which currently account for more than half of the private sector jobs in South Africa. Mr Moloi urged Indian businessmen to identify the major obstacles to more free trade between the two countries, especially in potential areas like pharmaceuticals. Citing the automotive industry as the leading manufacturing sector in South Africa, accounting for 6 per cent of GDP and 84 per cent of Africa's vehicles production, Mr Moloi said South Africa was now the third largest supplier of catalytic converters to the US, after Germany and Japan.

It was also the world's leading producer of diamonds, platinum group metals, gold and chromium, and was counted among the top producers of manganese, coal, iron ore, titanium and aluminium. There was a huge need to unlock the trade potential between the two countries, if the current bilateral trade of $3.1 billion had to grow five times in the next five years, he said.Pointing out that bilateral ties between the two countries could be considerably enhanced in the years ahead, Mr Umang Kanoria, President, ICC, said India currently ranked as South Africa's 20th most important export-import market. India imports from South Africa large quantities of coal and briquettes, iron and steel, inorganic and organic fertilisers, pulp, and waste paper and petroleum crude, and exports items such as cotton, yarn, finished leather goods, machinery, chemicals, spices, handicrafts and hand-made carpets.

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