South Africa, China and India agree to facilitate trade and investment co-operation

​Co-operative umbrella bodies from South Africa, China and India have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to foster business collaboration and partnership between co-ops in their countries.

President of the South African National Apex Cooperative (SANACO) Lawrence Bale and Director of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives Li Zhanhai signed a MoU during the opening ceremony of the third BRICS Co-operatives meeting in Cape Town.

“Through this MoU the two national umbrella bodies have committed to realising true and viable collaboration between all co-operative enterprises in China and South Africa,” Mr Bale said. “We’ve also agreed to facilitate trade and investment co-operation through exhibitions, trade fairs and exchange of strategic visits.”

Mr Zhanhai said the two bodies would ensure regular exchange of trade and investment intelligence and technologies, to enhance capacity. “We’ll share and disseminate information on the latest trade and economic policies of our countries to interested co-operatives through seminars and training courses,” he said.

Co-operative leaders gathered in Cape Town on 26 and 27 October, ahead of the Alliance's Global Conference, to discuss bilateral and multilateral co-operation amongst co-ops in BRICS countries. On day two SANACO signed a second MoU with its Indian counterpart.

The leaders also considered implementation mechanisms for the MoU signed during the second BRICS Co-operatives Meeting in Beijing in 2011.

Mr Bale said South African co-ops had benefited hugely from the meetings. SANACO co-hosted them with the South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), taking the theme Partnerships for Development, Integration and Industrialisation through Co-operatives.

“The country did it itself proud by hosting a successful meeting attended by delegates from all five BRICS countries,” he said. “Deliberations centred on critical and strategic issues that affect co-operatives in these countries.

“Top of the list was promoting trade, investment and collaboration amongst co-operatives in the BRICS countries. We also intensely discussed and reached consensus on issues related to collaboration on capacity building and ensuring co-operatives are sustainable.

“One of the important things we learnt is that there’s still a lot of work to be done in South Africa when it comes to co-operative development,” added Mr Bale. “Co-operatives in other countries are far advanced compared to ours. They’re contributing immensely in creating employment for citizens in their countries.”

Deputy Director General of Broadening Participation at the DTI Sipho Zikode said he was optimistic the resolutions would lead to opening markets and sustainable trade. “The meeting was a success and an eye-opener for our co-operatives,” he said.

“In my opinion, the South African co-operatives benefitted more than those from other countries. We learnt that co-operatives in these countries are highly developed and operating at the high end of the value chain in various sectors. They contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Products of their countries, while ours are still at entry, SMME and micro levels.

“Deliberations on skills transfer, capacity building and infrastructure development will go a long way in improving the development of co-operatives in various countries,” he said.