India-South Africa India-South Africa 2019 | Page 38

PM Narendra Modi address at
India-South Africa Business Summit 2019
The President of the Republic of South Africa,
His Excellency Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa,
Leaders of the corporate world from India
and South Africa;
Ladies & Gentlemen.
Namaskar!
I am delighted to be here with you all at
the India-South Africa Business Forum. We
are deeply honoured to have with us, Your
Excellency Mr. President.
It is a matter of great privilege that you will
be the Guest of Honour at our 70th Republic
Day Parade tomorrow. Our partnership spans
the unbreakable bonds of history that have
linked the national movements of India and
South Africa.
Now, our partnership is about a shared and
prosperous future, which realises the dreams
of Madiba and Mahatma for our people. We
seek constantly to engage and collaborate
for a better future for our people, and also
the world.
We sealed a strategic partnership 22
years ago through the Red Fort Declaration.
I believe that continuous dialogue between
the two old friends and partners has brought
us closer in every way. We remain steadfast
in our commitment for closer cooperation,
bilaterally as well as multilaterally. In
38 • India-South Africa • 2019
recent times, there are new beginnings and
interesting growth stories between two old
friends.
Trade between India and South Africa
is on the upswing, and has crossed the
10-billion-dollar mark in 2017-18. Two major
business initiatives in 2018 have helped
this along. One was the India-South Africa
Business Summit held in Johannesburg in
April 2018. The other was Invest in India
Business Forum, also in Johannesburg in
November 2018.
However, there is great potential still.
I call upon all Indian and South African
government agencies, investment promotion
organisations as well as business leaders of
both countries to work pro-actively to realise
the true potential. I was pleased to see that
there has been signifi cant participation and
presence from African countries in our States.
In my earlier role as the Chief Minister of
Gujarat, I was happy to welcome prominent
participants from South Africa. It is gratifying
that Vibrant Gujarat last week once again
welcomed our friends and partners from
South Africa in large numbers. One day was
specifi cally marked as 'Africa Day'.
This shows that our bonds are much
deeper than we generally realise. It is