South Africa-India trade opportunities not being maximised, says envoy Sookal

Johannesburg, Aug 3 (PTI): South African High Commissioner designate to India, Prof Anil Sooklal, has urged Indian businesses in South Africa and local businesses to stop working in silos and cooperate to maximise trade opportunities between the two countrie.

South Africa-India trade opportunities not being maximised, says envoy Sookal

Johannesburg, Aug 3 (PTI): South African High Commissioner designate to India, Prof Anil Sooklal, has urged Indian businesses in South Africa and local businesses to stop working in silos and cooperate to maximise trade opportunities between the two countries.

Sooklal was speaking at a reception here on Friday evening hosted by the Indian Consulate and the India Business Forum to felicitate the first Indian-origin citizen South African to serve in this position.

Sooklal, a recipient of Pravasi Bharatiya Award -- India’s highest honour for diaspora Indians, has had long relations with the country, particularly through his work as a South African Sherpa in BRICS.

“One of the things I have discovered in meetings here is that you work in silos. When I speak to each one of you, I see so many complementarities in terms of what you are doing, but you are not sharing information and opportunities between yourselves; let alone between South African and Indian businesses,” Sooklal said.

“We need to see how we change this. We have been speaking to Indian High Commissioner Prabhat Kumar and to Indian and South African businesses. There have been many structures launched, but you don’t have an inclusive structure that caters to the needs of South African and Indian businesses equally.

“High Commissioner Kumar cannot focus only on the Indian sector here. I cannot go to Delhi and focus on South African businesses only. It must be both – to nurture and promote South African and Indian business equally. We have to be inclusive. We have to also share knowledge," he said.

Sooklal said the India-South Africa relationship did not currently have the profile it warranted because little was known about what the Indian companies were doing in South Africa.

He cited the example of Vedanta’s South African operations.

“Vedanta employs 6,5000 people, 99 per cent I think are South Africans. That is what I have discovered about the Indian companies here – that nearly 99 per cent of their employees are locals.

“This is one dimension that we are not giving enough attention to – the thousands of jobs that you are creating; the skills transfer that is taking place, and not just through the ITEC programme that the Indian government runs, but through your companies. This is not known,” the diplomat said, as he referred to the corporate social investment by Indian companies in South Africa as the other dimension that is not known.

“Tata’s three entities here – in the IT, automotive and mining sectors – informed me that 60 per cent of the revenues generated go back to the community. Now that is substantial. There are so many of the other Indian companies represented here that are so deeply invested in corporate social investment in South Africa; working with our underdeveloped communities in many ways,” Sooklal said.

He called the Indian market “one of the most vibrant markets that you have globally today”.

“The IMF predicts growth of 3.2 per cent this year globally. India is expected to grow around seven per cent plus. The rest of the world is converging on India and looking at the opportunities. It’s a massive market with the largest population (in the world).

“Today when you speak of population numbers you speak of power. When Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi ji says ‘I’m the leader of the largest global population today of 1.445 billion’, it’s a power statement about the global south and how the world has changed,” Sooklal said, as he called on the captains of industry from both countries to start relooking this relationship.

“We can’t be crying about trade imbalance if we are not addressing it first and foremost,” he said.

Sooklal said one of the first tasks of the new mission heads in India would be to compile a directory of South African businesses represented there, as there was uncertainty about the exact number of these.

He said there would be an event in Delhi in December to celebrate the 30 years of the resumed relationship between India and South Africa “and reset it to give it the energy it requires to take it to new levels".

“We want to work with all of you to ensure we create a platform to cater for all South African and Indian businesses and we can only do that as a collective to make inroads into this vibrant market that is India today,” Sooklal said.

High Commissioner Kumar concurred with Sooklal that there was not enough knowledge among South African businesses about developments in India.

“South Africa is looking towards India but slowly. We have to increase the pace both from your side and our side,” the envoy said, as he highlighted some of the major developments in India during the past two decades.

“Both countries can learn from each other through a two-way transfer," he said. PTI FH SCY SCY

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