South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to lead an Outward Trade and Investment Mission -providing a group of companies with the opportunity to explore trade and investment opportunities in India.
The mission will take place in New Delhi and Mumbai between the 4th and 8th of March of this year.
The department will enable companies to explore the opportunities in India, increasing value-added trade between the African and Asian countries.
“One of the DTI’s strategic goals is to grow the South African manufacturing sector in order to promote industrial development, job creation, investment and exports,” stated Dr Rob Davies, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry.
“To achieve this objective, the department embarks on international missions in order to promote exports of South African value-added goods and services and increase market share across various regions of the world”, he adds.
The mission further aims to enable South African businesses to access global market, develop export markets for products and services and attract new foreign direct investment which will in turn, lead to an increase in production, thereby growing the economy and creating much needed employment opportunities.
The mission will comprise of trade and investment seminars, business-to-business meetings and site visits. Companies that will participate in the mission operate in the agro-processing, defence equipment, electro-technical and leather sectors.
The companies’ trip is funded by the DTI through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme.
Although South Africa enjoys a positive trade balance, the country’s exports to India are still dominated by primary commodities in the form of coal and to an extent, Gold while imports from India are mostly manufactured products. This indicates a critical need and an opportunity for South Africa to increase export of the country’s manufactured products.