Cape Town - Agriculture Minister Senzeni said it is important that the South African farming community take advantage of the Brics bank. "It is an instrument for growth in Brics countries and especially for agriculture in our region.
The formation of the multilateral development bank operated by the Brics states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was announced in July at the 6th Brics Summit in Brazil.
Together, the five original Brics countries in 2014 comprise more than 2.8 billion people or 40% of the world's population, cover more than a quarter of the world's land area over three continents, and account for more than 25% of global GDP.
Zokwana left for India on Tuesday evening for bilateral talks with his counterpart Shri Radha Moodan Singh. He confirmed that the Brics bank would feature in his discussions in India.
The Indo-South African week started in Mumbai on Tuesday and will continue until Friday when Zokwana will be travelling to Gurgaon close to New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet Singh.
The event is being attended by business organisations, farmers and government representatives from India and South Africa.
According to speech notes for the visit, released by Zokwana's spokesperson Palesa Mokomela, more than 60 Indian companies have invested in South Africa, including Tata, which invests in automobiles and hotels, Mahindra, Sahara Computers and the Bank of India.
Some major South African companies that have invested in India are Sasol, FirstRand, Old Mutual, Acas, Shoprite, SA Breweries and Nandos.
The total trade between South Africa and India has increased over the past years, reaching R80.84bn in 2013 from R36.87bn in 2008.