Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, attended India- South Africa business summit from April 29-30,2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The visit began with a series of bilateral meetings: he met Dr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa and ministers from Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho.

The Minister highlighted the historical relations between India and these countries and pledged to take the economic partnership forward.

The Minister also met members of India-South Africa CEOs forum who expressed confidence in the Government of India’s efforts to strengthen India-Africa relations and pledged their support in furthering these relations

Suresh Prabhu also met ministers from Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and participated in the India-SADC Dialogue attended by ministers and business leaders who pledged their effort for achieving prosperity through trade, investment and economic  cooperation

  The Minister addressed the plenary session of the Summit and talked about building synergies between India and South Africa which are united by legacy and unified for prosperity.  Minister added that the summit was a harbinger of good things to come and that South Africa and India were poised to take off in the next few years on a higher growth trajectory. He also talked about two oldest friends coming together for extending partnership towards a new progressive era through the business summit.

Suresh Prabhu inaugurated a multi-sectoral exhibition at Johannesburg along with Dr.Rob Davies, Trade and Industry Minister of South Africa. The Minister appreciated the large presence of Indian companies at the exhibition.

He expressed satisfaction to the response received during the summit for business between India and South Africa. The Minister said both sides will work through time bound action plan to benefit from this summit.

During the stay in South Africa the Minister visited the Tata Motors, South Africa assembly plant at Rosslyn near Pretoria. He appreciated the work by Tata Motors in providing employment to local people.

At the end of the tour the Minister met the Indian diaspora and said that they are a bridge between the two countries for more than 150 years and the diaspora is a great hope for the future of economic and commercial cooperation.

Economic partnership strengthened through India-South Africa summit; time bound action plan to boost trade and investment collaboration. India and South Africa committed to deepen economic engagement through ministerial and business-level interactions at the India-South Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg, engaging the CEOs Forum and SADC representatives to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation. The summit showcased a multi sector exhibition and emphasized translating dialogue into a time bound action plan to produce measurable commercial outcomes, with government, business stakeholders and the Indian diaspora pledged to support follow up implementation.