SA business drawcard for Indian journalists

“The initial visit was very positive for South Africa's image in India as the visiting journalists reported extensively on their trip. We hope to build on that momentum with the second visit,” says Govin Reddy, the IMC's country manager in India.

The purpose of the trip is to expose Indian journalists to the South African business, political and cultural landscape. “We hope that this media tour will lead to increased positive coverage of South Africa in the Indian media and that this will help boost trade, investment and tourism between these two strategic developing world partners,” added Reddy.

For India, South Africa is the gateway to Africa. Together with Brazil, these three countries have a close relationship through which they fight for greater south-south trade as well as trying to ensure that developing countries get a fairer share of world trade and investment.

According to the Indian High Commission in South Africa, ties between the two countries are “close and friendly” but there is “substantial untapped potential for growth” when it comes to trade and investment. Commercial relations have flourished since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993. The value of bilateral trade has gone up from US$4 billion in 2005-06 to US$4.7 billion in 2006-07. It is estimated that Indian investors are currently executing projects worth over US$2 billion. The South African Department of Trade and Industry projects that the value of bilateral trade will reach R100 billion by 2011.

Major investors in South Africa include Tata, the UB Group, Mahindra and a number of pharmaceutical companies.

South Africa also has a growing footprint in India, led by SAB, ACSA (which is upgrading the Mumbai airport), Sanlam, Old Mutual, Sasol, Naspers, De Beers, First Rand and Standard Bank