South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who was in India recently said, “ India was a key strategic partner of South Africa. Both the countries political and economic relations are sound and is based on mutual respect and concerns for each other's development,"

With sound economic bilateral ties with South Africa solidification of the IBSA looks all the more bright. The country has a strong Indian connection. About one million of South Africa's 47 million people are descendants of Indian laborers and immigrants who came to the country in the past century. Many of them are involved in trading business. India's leading enterprise groups such as Tata and Mittal Steel are also investing hugely in South Africa's automobile, mining, telecommunication and other industries. "India is among the top 10 investing countries in South Africa, with investments estimated to the value of 10 billion rand (1.4 billion U.S. dollars)," said Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Annual trade between 2001 and 2005, of India and the Mercosur trade bloc (comprising of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) grew from less than one billion dollars to 2.3 billion. Around the same period trade between India and South Africa climbed 133 percent from 1.3 billion to 3.1 billion dollars. The IBSA negotiations are aimed at raising trilateral trade flows to 10 billion dollars next year.

According to Mbeki, President of South Africa “the adoption of a free trade agreement between these three nations would be an unprecedented step in the world trade system, which means it is essential for it to be taken in an appropriate manner”.

Though a lot more needs to be done the summit saw a good beginning in many areas. Brazil and South Africa adopted a three-year pilot project for the export and import of cars and spare parts. At the same time, Brazil and India agreed on the sharing of alternative technologies. Rogelio Golfarb, president of the National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers, which participated in the summit activities as a representative of Brazil's business community said about the summit “All of this is complementation. South Africa specializes in luxury automobiles, and Mercosur is strong in the production of compact cars. India expressed great interest in the production of ethanol fuel (produced from sugar cane) and biodiesel, and Brazil expressed interest in Indian techniques for producing wind and solar energy."