The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe says South Africa has effectively adhered to a disciplined and predictable set of economic fundamentals since the inception of the new democratic government in 1994. She was addressing the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in the state of Cochin, Kerala as part of her four-state Technical Mission.
Thabethe is leading a technical mission to India to observe progress made by the Indian government on the development of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME), as well as the connectivity of rural economies to the mainstream economic activity in the country.
The Deputy Minister said that these economic fundamentals that government has followed include trade liberation, exchange control liberation, inflation targeting and control of government expenditure of fiscal measures.
“These measures are now starting to bear fruit with exports increasing sharply as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. South Africa now finds itself in a position where it’s regarded as a very desirable trade nation having negotiated a number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) over the past several years,” she said.
Thabethe stated that the Technical Mission serves to re-enforce the long standing friendship that both South Africa and India have built since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
‘At the economic level our bilateral trade has risen exponentially from a negligible forty five million USD in 1993, surpassing this with a mark of 7 billion USD in 2011. Further to this India ranks amongst the top 10 investing countries in South Africa with its investment estimated to over 57 billion USD to date. Also the challenge now however lies in increasing the pace of growth and consolidating gains,” said Thabethe.
She added that both countries have initiatives in place that are enhancing the relations.
‘These initiatives include the India-South Africa Joint Ministerial Commission. India-SA CEO’s forum has been established and is gaining momentum, also a bid to strengthen the trade ties between the two countries, various agreements have been signed and entered into namely, The General Trade Agreement, Cooperation on Defence issues, Small Medium Enterprises development and capacity building through our small enterprises development agencies and the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC)’.
Deputy Minister Thabethe is accompanied by a delegation comprising of senior officials from the dti and its agencies, including the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the National Empowerment Fund.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
