PRETORIA, June (ANA) - Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Bulelani Magwanishe has arrived in Hyderabad in India where he is leading a mission as part of government’s investment attraction drive in the pharmaceutical sector, the trade and industry department (dti) said on Sunday.
Magwanishe will meet leading companies in the pharmaceutical sector in Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad in an effort to attract them to invest and expand their presence in South Africa, the dti said in a statement.
Magwanishe’s programme included meetings with top executives of leading Indian pharmaceutical companies and site tours of their manufacturing plants. He would deliver an address to a group of potential investors at a pharmaceutical investment seminar in Hyderabad on Monday.
The South African pharmaceutical industry was a priority sector as identified in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), Magwanishe said in the statement.
India’s pharmaceutical industry was ranked 3rd globally and the investment mission was strategic in terms of South Africa’s industrial policy objectives of building a manufacturing capability as a world-class hub for the African continent. It was against this background that the mission was targeted at pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumables.
"We will also visit major hubs, as well as knowledge and technology centres. We are strategically and particular targeting potential investors to share our value proposition with them with the aim of wooing them to invest in South Africa, as well as companies that are already investing in the country in order to encourage them to expand their investments,” Magwanishe said.
“We will also use the opportunity offered by the mission to visit the pharmaceutical manufacturing plants to see the best practice and identify areas of collaboration, both technical and educational, in order to develop the skills and capabilities of the South African companies, particularly black-owned companies, as well as small and medium enterprises.
"We will also identify opportunities for potential partnerships for local companies to work with leading global companies in the areas of technical co-operation, research and development, skills transfer, and joint ventures.
“More importantly, opportunities for investment and partnerships with leading companies based in India will also allow the South African economy and its people to be in a position to have affordable and cost-effective healthcare through the inward investment of some of these companies that may be pursuing Africa as the next frontier of growth,” Magwanishe said.
- African News Agency (ANA)
