India, Brazil and South Africa, which constitute the tri-lateral organisation IBSA, are hoping to increase the trade relations among the three countries to $10-billion a year, South Africa's head of Asia and Middle East Section in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Jerry Matjila has said.
Matjila was speaking on Wednesday ahead of the second IBSA head of states summit in South Africa on October 17.
The summit would be attended by Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and host President Thabo Mbeki.
Matjila said since the formation of IBSA in 2003, trade between the three countries had increased to between $6 and $7 billion.
He did not give a time frame as to when the three countries would be able to achieve trilateral trade volume worth $10
billion a year, but said it would be discussed at the Summit.
"IBSA is about business. IBSA is about unlocking the potential of the South", Matjila said.
Matjila said a business forum would form a major component of events leading up to the one-day summit and would see over 200 business people from India, Brazil and South Africa attending discussions at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on October 15 and 16.
It would be an opportunity for the business leaders to establish trilateral companies, especially in areas such as transport, maritime and aviation sector. He said the increased volume of air traffic had resulted in plans for Indian, Jet Airlines, to fly to OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg soon.
© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
