India and South Africa have held talks on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) or a limited trade deal via the five-member South African Customs Union (SACU) to expand trade ties, the commerce department said on Thursday.
SACU nations include South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini and is the world’s oldest customs union — over a century old.
Of the five nations, as much as 95 per cent of trade is with South Africa.
A nine-member delegation held the Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment meeting with the South African side in Pretoria, South Africa on 22nd-23rd April, the commerce department said in a statement.
Both sides also explored potential areas of collaboration such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, agriculture, MSMEs. They also discussed revival of the CEO Forum, investment cooperation, market access issues with regard to agricultural products, local currency settlement system, among others.
South Africa is the largest trading partner of India in the Africa region.
Bilateral trade between India and South Africa stood at $19.25 billion in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). In the past India and SACU nations were in talks for finalising a preferential trade agreement. The 1st round of technical discussions for India-SACU PTA took place in Pretoria in October, 2007, which was followed by four more rounds till 2010.