Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and his South African counterpart Rob Davies will

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interact with leading corporate bigwigs of the two countries at the second India-South Africa CEOs Forum being held here tomorrow.

The forum is headed by Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata from the Indian side and African Rainbow Minerals Executive Chairman Patrice Motsepe from South Africa. The first meeting of the forum took place in Johannesburg in August, 2010.

In an official statement, Sharma said the two countries occupy similar positions in the global economic order and it was necessary for both of them to strengthen bilateral ties.

"Also, the fact that both our governments are faced with similar socio-economic imperatives, it would be most appropriate for our governments and industry to step up bilateral cooperation, intensify knowledge-sharing and jointly address developmental issues," he said.

The two ministers will also have bilateral discussions, the statement added.

During the first meeting, the business leaders of both countries discussed in detail the opportunities and challenges that bilateral investment and trade offered and the bottlenecks that were hampering India-South Africa business ties.

The forum had also agreed to jointly explore business opportunities in Africa in diverse fields such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, food processing, automobiles, components, biotechnology, information technology, telecommunications, infrastructure, roads and railways.

Apart from Ratan Tata, other prominent Indian corporate leaders that are part of the forum are Mahindra & Mahindra Vice Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra and Marico CMD Harsh C Mariwala, among others.