DTI pursues free trade pacts with China and India

Reciprocal trade with Africa also on the agenda Leonard Neill THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry is keenly pursuing free trade agreements with China and India. An evaluation report into a possible deal with both will be completed by the middle of next year, according to DTI deputy-general Tshediso Matona. It is part of a worldwide strategy undertaken by the department to develop more and more free trade agreements to the benefit of South Africa's international trade, he said. South Africa already has two bilateral free trade agreements and 23 trade preference agreements in place, but the strategy of targeting additional countries as likely trade partners shows the country's determination to play a bigger role in global trade, he added. The European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) is important, says Matona, as that region has a gross domestic product of US$500 billion. Similarly the agreement with Mercosur, the South American grouping, is a major market for this country as it is the third largest economic bloc in the world. China, with its 1,2 billion population, has a GDP of $1,179 billion while India, with one billion citizens, is slightly lower with its GDP of $485,5 billion. They represent huge investment possibilities for South African trade, he says. Africa, however, is playing a significant role in DTI plans with South African trade growing faster into other African states than that of any other nation on the continent. "We are working on a framework for an agreement with Nigeria in particular," says Matona. "It has become a key destination for South African products. It has a population of 126 million and its GDP is estimated at $117 billion. "South Africa is going all out to encourage reciprocal trade with other African countries as an important element of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad)."