The India South Africa Chamber of Commerce (ISACC), aims to enhance trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, including women and youth. Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau attends the launch of the inauguration of the India- South Africa Chamber of Commerce ( ISACC) at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. PHOTO: RAJESH JANTILAL
The India South African Chamber of Commerce (ISACC), launched by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) Parks Tau in August, will focus on crucial working groups, the chamber announced this week.
The working groups are Agriculture and Agroprocessing; ICT, Education and Skills; Tourism, collaboration in the infrastructure, mining and energy sectors and the pharmaceutical and medical sectors.
The ISACC in a statement said that it will prioritise the promotion of economic ties between the countries as South Africa and India celebrates thirty years of diplomatic relations.
"We have planned several events this year to mark the thirty years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, including hosting an event in India where a number of companies have been invited.
"We will also hold workshops in South Africa with various businesses in conjunction with the DTIC," reads the statement.
One of the key issues that the ISACC aims to tackle, through working with the Department of Home Affairs, is to deal with the issue of visas and work permits - a crucial obstacle that inhibits business people from India travelling to South Africa.
ISACC said it will help redefine the role of government and the private sector to work together to meet national targets. The chamber said its tourism working group will help to grow the number of tourists visitors from India to South Africa annually to reach 100 000, in an effort to grow the economy and reduce unemployment.
"Isacc is determined to ensure that business grow their niches in the sector through business matchmaking, attendance of trade shows and new product development to attract the more than 93 million Indian tourists who are currently travelling annually abroad. Currently, only 80 000 make South Africa their destination of choice."
The chamber said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s announcement of expediting visa applications as well as the appointment of Trusted Tour Operators to process visas, 'is welcomed as it will deal with the red tape experienced by the travelling public, businesses, students, religious leaders and others'.
Prof Anil Sooklal the High Commissioner designate to New Delhi pledged his support to the Isacc initiative to market the diverse tourism product of South Africa and building a bridge to visit Incredible India and Sunny South Africa.
"Minister De Lille will soon visit India to give impetus to attracting Indian travellers, especially in the high disposable income category, to visit South Africa’s world class destinations and icons.
"The future looks bright and beautiful to investors with these initiatives where Isacc will provide services related business intelligence and potential deal making," the chamber said.
On education the chamber said its group engaged with Neelam Rani, Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Management Shillong, who presented a summary of her research report on “Cross-Border Business Alliances Between Indian and South-African Firms: Investment, Trade, Human Resource & Policy Implications in Cross-Cultural Context”.
"The report brought out new insights on the nature of trade in general and between India and South Africa in particular. It paves way for discussions and guides practical implementation to improve trade and investment between India and South Africa. Further engagement is being evaluated."
On the issue of skills, the chamber said a team is currently engaging with the University of KwaZulu-Natal to explore bilateral cooperation between India and South Africa.
"This is in areas related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and exploring community development models."
On Agriculture and Agroprocessing, it said its working group will 'foster sustainable agricultural development and enhance food security by promoting collaboration, innovation, and trade between India and South Africa'.
"We aim to empower farmers, agribusinesses, and communities through technology transfer, capacity building, and investment, ensuring a resilient and prosperous agricultural sector that contributes to the well-being and economic growth of both nations," the chamber said.
It said that the medical and pharmaceutical sector in India represents a large part of the global supply chain.
“The ISACC working groups aims to identify business opportunities, collaboration and investment opportunities for both countries. The health care industry in South Africa has historically favoured European companies and ISACC will present opportunities to broaden the scope of medical supplies and research from a cost perspective and make health care more affordable.”
The chamber said this will be done by identifying key partners and alternative suppliers and will include SMME’s, women owned companies and investors interested in startups.
“We will focus on driving economic growth in the South African health sector.”
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