The transport minister of South Africa, Mac Maharaj, said there was an enormous scope between government to government and business to business tie-ups between the two countries. The minister who was addressing an interactive meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) said there was massive restructuring taking place in Africa and Indian participation was most welcome in this regard.

During the meeting, it was conveyed to the minister that the India-South Africa Commercial Alliance constituting businessmen from both countries would evolve an agenda where there would be a meaningful tie-ups between the two countries in implementing infrastructure development programmes.

The alliance, which was set up on the lines of the Indo-US Commercial Alliance, would be anodal point for channeling the private sector initiatives and forging tie-ups amongthe business houses of both the countries. Talking about infrastructure development, particularly in the Railways, Shanti Narian, member, Railway Board said the Railways were going in for fibre optic technology which would benefit not only the Railways but also the information technology sector.

S S Siddhu, chairman of Ficci's expert committee on civil aviation stated that Rs 18-20 crore was required for development of airports and all this money had to come from the private sector. Proper environment had to be created for the private sector and for this the returns had to be adequate for the private sector to come in.