Summit to boost India-SA trade, cultural exchanges
POLITICALLY speaking, the world is revolving Left, Right and Centre.
The Gopio International Business Summit is taking place in Durban at a time when the global focus is on politics and economic development.
A changing of the guard – whether it’s in Washington, Seoul, Paris or local elections in mainland India, impacts on people of Indian origin – as manifested in the Gopio International manifesto, mission, vision and outreach, simply because Indians and non-resident Indians are spread across many established democracies, and developing nations like South Africa and countries in the Indian Ocean Rim, mainly Mauritius and Seychelles.
Our French members may have voted progressively for a new, liberal and centrist president.
The world cannot return to right-wing regimes that are stubbornly turning the tide of migration and denying economic opportunities to skilled and unskilled people.
On the home front, we are at the crossroads of politics and deepening socio-economic woes.
While the business summit will bring together delegates around the tables to discuss how the game can change in business towards a more inclusive, sustainable and innovative business style, politics is always part of the mix, in which business must keep a distance between itself and the governing administration. But the private and public sector must work together tirelessly for the better good of people, create a lot more jobs, boost the economy and engage in cross-border trade and commerce.
Both South Africa and India, as posts for a new economic revolution, can play a pivotal role in resuscitating the post-apartheid pledge by both friendly and sister nations to ramp up brisk trading and socio-economic and cultural exchanges.
This business summit, spearheaded by self-made entrepreneur Ishwar Ramlutchman and organisers, has the potential of giving new meaning to the raft of trade agreements, MOUs and joint co-operations signed by successive presidents of countries over the past two decades.
This global summit of leaders of the PIO and NRI movements representing 30 million people of Indian-origin must strive to use its collective resourcefulness, resilience, human capital, knowledge economy and financial clout to deliver first-class solutions in coming up with the Durban Declaration for Economic Prosperity and Peace.
These policies, triggered by the global Indian fraternity, should spill into the arena of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa bloc of pro-economic nations, and the World Economic Forum and WEF Africa.
In the sessions of debates, dissensions, decisions, I encourage leaders and delegates to embrace this tip: agree to disagree, but avoid derailing the dialogues, outcome and resolutions of the business summit.
Padayachee is a former POST political correspondent and Gopio International life member and media co-ordinator for Africa, of the New York-based Indian Diaspora Council.