Govt seeks early finalisation of India-SA preferential trade

New Delhi, Aug 3 (UNI) Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Ashwani Kumar has pleaded for the early finalisation of a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and South Africa to give a fresh boost to bilateral economic ties.

Mr Kumar raised the issue during a meeting with Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Deputy President of South Africa on the margins of the India Calling Conference at Johannesburg held yesterday.

Mr Kumar also held discussions with Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa, Minister of Trade and Industry, and with Dr Essop Pahad, Minister in the President's Office. During these meetings Mr Kumar urged for an early finalisation of the PTA with South Africa.

Mr Mpahlwa assured Mr Kumar that the agreement could be concluded soon, possibly before the expected visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to South Africa in October this year. Considering the target to treble Indo-South African trade by 2010 to 12 billion dollars, the PTA between the two countries would be a major step forward.

Dr Pahad informed Mr Kumar that the India-South Africa CEOs Forum would meet in Mumbai on August 16 and that more and more South African companies are looking to participate in the development of infrastructure in India.

Mr Kumar invited South African companies to invest in India and expressed the hope that Indian companies would also have an opportunity to participate in the development of infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010.

Meanwhile, in his address at the India Calling Conference at Johannesburg yesterday, Earlier Mr Kumar had underlined the crucial role that India and South Africa would play in defining the new global order as they addressed the challenges of economic growth and social justice within the context of heterogeneous societies and pluralistic, multiparty democracies.

Describing India's ambitious plans to develop its infrastructure, he urged the assembled South African captains of trade and industry to become invest in India and to become partners in its economic growth.

The India Calling Conference is being organised by the Mumbai-based Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), South Africa's apex trade and industry body. The Conference, significantly, coincides with the centenary celebrations of the IMC.

UNI