South Africa was gateway to Africa and markets of more than 200 million consumers. With its diversified industrial sectors, open economy and financial stability, South Africa offers a sound business case for investment and profit, said Mr. Ben Joubert, Deputy High Commissioner of South Africa to India, at an interactive session on ‘Emerging Business Opportunities in South Africa’ organized by FICCI in partnership with High Commission of South Africa.
Mr. Joubert said that South Africa and India should strive to increase their bilateral trade significantly. He added that 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the Red Fort Declaration on a Strategic Partnership between India and South Africa, signed in 1997. Therefore, it was time to strengthen the complementary ties.
Mr. Joubert said the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 offers a long-term perspective and defines a desired destination and identifies the role different sectors of society need to play in reaching that goal. He added that South Africa has identified specific sectors for investment and invited Indian business community to invest in them. South African government was providing incentives and initiatives besides offering a regulated and secure environment to investors.
Tourism in South Africa offers a wide market for investment, said Mr. Joubert and added that South Africa was a low cost tourist destination with value for money. However, there was lack of infrastructure and Indian investors could explore investment opportunities in it.
In his presentation, Mr. Recado Andrew, Minister Counsellor – Economic, High Commission of South Africa, said that South Africa was being positioned as a manufacturing centre of excellence with significantly lower unit labour costs than those of many other emerging markets. South Africa scored well in various categories according to the 2016/17 World
Competitiveness Index with overall competitiveness is ranked 47th increasing from 49th.
South Africa is ranked 29th in the world for efficient transport infrastructure. Therefore, it
offered immense prospects for investment.
Highlighting the priority sectors for FDI, Mr. Andrew said that advanced manufacturing,
nanotechnology, metals, mining & beneficiation, biofuels, agribusiness, automotives &
components, capital equipment, precision engineering, aerospace, film production, tourism,
oil & gas, boat building, ICT and electronics, BPO (Business Processing & Outsourcing) and call
centres, chemicals & biochemicals, plastics & composites, (Bio) pharmaceuticals & medical
devices, leather and footwear, forestry products & furniture, energy and renewables,
infrastructure development, waste management, and energy efficiency & cleaner technology,
were some sectors ready for investment.