India-South Africa India-South Africa 2019 | Page 15

South African High Commission in Delhi, South
Africa also has a Consulate General in Mumbai.
The exchange of visits by Parliamentary
delegations between India and South Africa
also refl ect the friendly relations and strategic
partnerships that define India-South Africa
relations.
With India’s history of consistent support
in South Africa’s freedom and democracy,
there has been a steady alliance in friendly
relations between the nations; both bilaterally
and through the trilateral IBSA Dialogue Forum.
With the commencement of diplomatic relations
in 1993, bilateral agreements have been signed
on economic and commercial cooperation,
security, culture, health, science and technology,
migration, education and public administration.
India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation
Programme (ITEC) has been a paramount source
of capacity building and promoting development
in human resources in South Africa. Employed
South Africans aged 25 to 45 to apply for the ITEC
training programme. Since 1993, over 1200 South
Africans have acquired skills and technical training
in India under the (ITEC) programme.
To address the shortage of skills among
South Africans which is a national priority of the
Government of South Africa, an MoU on the setting
up of the Gandhi-Mandela Centre of Specialisation
for Artisan Skills” in South Africa was signed during
the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to South Africa
in July 2018. The Centre, with the collaboration
of Hindustan Machine Tools Limited (HMTL)
will off er technical expertise, training material,
machines and equipment as well as interactive ICT
equipment for video conferencing in a multi-skills
formation comprising of four skills: mechanical
fi tter, electrician, boilermaker and millwright for
all of which there is demand in South Africa. The
Centre is planned to be inaugurated in April 2019.
India is South Africa’s fifth largest export
partner, fourth largest import partner and also
the second largest trading partner in Asia. Both
countries are working to boost trade volumes in
the coming years. Bilateral trade between India and
South Africa currently stands at $10 billion. In 2016,
both countries set a target of increasing bilateral
trade and investment to $20 billion by 2021.
Recently, a global joint publication by
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Price
Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) said in May 2018 that
around 140 Indian companies have invested close
to $4 billion in South Africa, thereby creating direct
employment for over 18,000 people. The leading
Indian companies in South Africa are Wipro, Coal
India, Cipla, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors,
Zomato, Mahindra and Mahindra, Vedanta, and
Motherson Sumi. South African companies which
have invested in India are SASOL, FirstRand, Old
Mutual, ACSA, Shoprite and Nandos.
Some exports from India to South Africa
include vehicles, transport equipment, medicines
and pharmaceuticals, engineering wares, footwear,
chemicals, textiles, food items and jewelry. Some
imports from South Africa to India include gold,
steam coal, copper ores & other minerals. Major
Indian investors in South Africa include Tata
(automobiles, IT, hospitality and ferrochrome
plant), UB Group (breweries, hospitality), Mahindra
(automobiles) and a number of pharmaceutical
companies, including Ranbaxy and CIPLA, as
well as IT companies and some investments in
the mining sector. The growth of South African
investments in India is headed by SAB Miller
(breweries), ACSA (upgrading the Mumbai airport),
SANLAM and Old Mutual (insurance), ALTECH
(set-top boxes), Adcock Ingram (pharmaceuticals)
and Rand Merchant Bank (banking).
India and South Africa convened the 9th
Foreign Offi ce Consultations on 18 January 2018
in New Delhi, India. The Consultations form
part of the structured mechanism which governs
bilateral relations between the two countries.
This mechanism comprises a Joint Ministerial
Commission (JMC) and the Foreign Office
Consultations (FOC). The meeting reviewed
developments in the bilateral relationship between
South Africa and India, since the holding of the 9th
Joint Ministerial Commission, in Durban, in May
2015, and the previous round of Foreign Offi ce
Consultations, held in Pretoria in May 2016.
India and South Africa enjoy a Strategic
Partnership based on shared values and common
interests and the meeting refl ected on progress
made with regard to the conclusion of a number
of legal instruments, including agreements and
memoranda of understanding, aimed at promoting
cooperation within specifi c areas. These areas relate
to visa simplifi cation procedures, cooperation in
higher education, audio-visual co-production and
renewable energy. The meeting also refl ected on
ways to grow commercial links between India
and South Africa, especially in the fi elds of trade
and investment, while noting that bilateral trade
had grown steadily over the last decade. In 2017,
two-way trade had reached R97 billion and further
areas of cooperation were being explored in the
fi nancial services industry, defence procurement,
India-South Africa • 2019 • 15