
India and SACU begin negotiations for preferential trade agreement, Namibia to coordinate
India and the Southern African Customs Union SACU have initiated formal negotiations for a comprehensive preferential trade agreement PTA, marking a significant development in India-Africa trade relations. Namibia will serve as the official coordinator for these negotiations among SACU member states, which include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. The agreement aims to strengthen South-South cooperation amidst global trade fragmentation and rising protectionism. India's union minister of commerce and industry, Shri Goyal, emphasized that the relationship with southern Africa is rooted in shared historical struggles against colonialism and institutionalized racism, rather than solely commerce. This PTA is viewed as a modernization of an existing partnership, translating political alignment into a framework for commercial, technological, and industrial integration. Namibia's leadership in the negotiations is expected to ensure the PTA remains development-oriented, protecting the interests of smaller and more vulnerable economies within the bloc by fostering an equitable and balanced framework. The PTA will cover eight core institutional chapters, including trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, dispute settlement, and legal provisions. Strategic advantages of the agreement for SACU include diversification of export destinations to India's large consumer market,



