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Indian exporters find South Africa promising
Monday, 16 February 2004, 20:30 IST
CAPE TOWN: Indian businessmen see a huge potential for expanding their base in South Africa as a Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO)-organised roadshow ended here.
A week-long, three-city series of business meets saw Indian exporters hoping to establish fruitful ventures here in the future.
Starting in Johannesburg last week, the 28 businesses negotiated deals with South African companies. The group went on to Durban before ending here.
"Overall it went off very well," Tapan Chattopadhyay, deputy director general of FIEO, told IANS. "Most of our delegates have established good contacts, with some of them having crystallized into orders also."
The Indian team is showcasing the country's huge knowledge base, advanced skills in the IT sector and biotechnology as well as agro and industrial products.
Chattopadhyay said there had been a particularly good response to manufacturers of jewellery, chemicals, fabric, silk, metals and building materials.
"Price was a very good indicator in addition to the quality that we can provide. Many South African companies were surprised to find that our products more than comply with quality certification requirements here," he said.
"We hope entrepreneurs on both sides will follow up on this to establish good relations between India and South Africa through other tie-ups and joint ventures in their respective fields of operation."
Aneetha Sanghai, managing co-ordinator of Paramount Minerals and Chemicals Limited, was trying to get South African industries, especially those involved in manufacturing paper and detergents, to buy their optical whitening agent.
Sanghai said: "In Johannesburg and Durban our meetings with distributors and manufacturers went off well, but in Cape Town the market is not ready for us. But we will definitely be doing business with South Africa, including the major paper mills Mondi and Sappi and a few small detergent and textile companies."
Suresh Shah of Classic Incorporation said there had been great interest in his pipe fittings and navigational aids, which have been approved by the British Navy and widely used in Europe as well.
Shirish Boralkar of Deogiri Latex is already doing good commercial as well as institutional business with other African countries like Botswana, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria with a range of condoms.
"We supply to governments and NGOs and believe that South Africa holds huge potential because of the high HIV/AIDS incidence here," he said.
Mayur Electro Ceramics' Jagadish Misra was on his first mission to find new markets abroad for their products beyond their traditional markets of Bangladesh and Nepal.
Viren Karani of Sharda Metal Industries said: "We have been selling our stainless steel products to (major South African departmental stores) Game and Hyperama for the past three to four years. We are now trying to get some new customers here, because our exports are still small and we feel there is a lot more room for growth."
Representatives of Anglo French textiles, specializing in textiles for hospitals, and have a good business in Europe, hoped to find markets in the South African institutional field as well.
Sanjay and Jaya Agrawal of the RVA Group found great interest in their silver jewellery and decorative items.
"Although South Africa is big in terms of gold, we found there is huge potential for silver jewellery here," Sanjay said as visitors tried to buy up their samples of items ranging from rings and necklaces to miniature religious deities and trays.
Chattopadhyay said through its Focus Africa programme, the Indian government was quite keen to expand business ties with its counterparts on the continent.
"Considering our good cultural, social and political relationship over many years, there is every hope that our range of products will have a good market (in Africa). We have plans to undertake a similar exercise (to this one) in East and West Africa as well," he said.
"But we have to think beyond just mundane export and import. We have to think of how we can set up production through collaborations and also the huge possibilities in the services sector."
India stood to expand its business in the services sector with several African countries, particularly South Africa, with its huge base for other African countries, Chattopadhyay said.
"This way both parties stand to gain. India's advanced skills and knowledge base can be exploited."
Source: IANS
Source: IANS