The South African Indian community, part of India's global diaspora, can help increase trade and investment between South Africa and India, Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) CEO Sujata Sudarshan told Engineering News Online on Thursday. "There's a lot of scope for investment, either way. The diaspora [in South Africa] can act as a catalyst."

"The OIFC was set up to connect the diaspora with India," she explained. "It works the other way, too. We had a diaspora meet here [in South Africa] in 2010. India sees South Africa as a very important market."

"We greatly value our [global] diaspora," affirmed Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Virendra Gupta. "South Africa has a very large concentration of the Indian diaspora: about 1.5-million. More than 100 Indian companies have resident offices in South Africa. Together, it makes a very sizable canvas. We have always regarded them [the diaspora] as a bridge between India and their host countries. A very valuable resource, if I my use that word, for both India and South Africa."

He highlighted that, while big corporations could look after themselves, smaller and medium-sized companies seeking to internationalize their operations needed reliable partners in the foreign markets they sought to enter. With regard to India and South Africa, this opened opportunities for the South African Indian community, both regarding South African companies seeking to enter India and Indian companies looking to enter South Africa.

South Africans enjoyed an advantage in India because of the long and close ties between the two countries, pointed out Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. These included Mahatma Gandhi's long (some 20-year) residence in South Africa, during which he developed his philosophy of non-violent protest. "This [South African] soil is sacred for us" as a result, he asserted. He added that, during the period of apartheid, "South Africa had a very special and emotive place in the hearts of Indians." Simply being South African opened doors in India today. "We are aware that it will be a mutually beneficial relationship if the diaspora engages with India."

Sudarshan, Gupta and Mehrishi were all participants in a seminar jointly organized by the High Commission of India and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) of the University of Pretoria, entitled the "Role of the Indian diaspora in leveraging commercial and economic relationships". The seminar was held on the GIBS campus in Johannesburg on Thursday.