India, SA trade agreement on track
Daily Dispatch 2010/08/18
India, SA trade agreement on track
INDIA’S government hopes to “wrap up very quickly” negotiations around a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Africa.
Virendra Gupta, High Commissioner of India to South Africa, said yester day the FTA was a “work in progress”, but the issue featured prominently during President Zuma’s June visit to India and there was a broad undertaking at political level to get it done. “We are hoping to wrap it up very quickly.”
Gupta said the agreement would include the Southern African Customs Union as well as Brazil, via Ibsa (the India, Brazil, SA tripartite grouping that wants to promote international co-operation among these countries).
It could even extend into the entire South American market, as via Ibsa it is hoped the countries can also create closer economic integration with Mercosur, the premier trading bloc in South America. — BusinessLive
