Prabhat Kumar, India’s High Commissioner to South Africa, is on a mission to foster even greater business ties between the two countries.
“South Africans have a very warm relationship with India,” he says, but the synergy could be greater both in a business sense as well as around innovation and collaboration in academia and civil society. To help break down barriers and highlight the opportunities for collaboration that exist, Kumar believes in building networks and links that not only connect the two nations but foster a greater understanding of how they tick.
Part of the current problem is that an information gulf exists, says Kumar. Specifically there is a fundamental lack of understanding about what is happening in India. While South Africans are usually well versed on events in key regions such as greater Africa, the Middle East, North America, and Europe, the mainstream media does not report extensively on India, Indian businesses, and opportunities to work together. Instead, potential business collaborations remain the preserve of companies or individuals who have already moved quietly into the Indian market and have networks in place.
“This makes India the ‘best-kept secret’,” says Kumar.
Greater engagements between Indian companies currently operating in South Africa – as well as with the broader South African business community – can only unlock new and exciting possibilities for partnering, Kumar believes. The starting point is to understand the ethos of those Indian companies already making an impact in South Africa and to consider the many and varied industries that are already part of the South African business fabric.
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