Johannesburg, July 23 - India and South Africa can defy the slowdown if they increase investments in each other's economy, according to South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoane-Mashabane.

In his keynote address Thursday at the 'Doing Business with India Conference', organised jointly by the Indian mission here and the South African Ministry of Trade and Industry, Nkoane-Mashabane said south-south cooperation would contribute to speedy recovery.

'Our partnership comes a long way and is not just a bond of friendship, but these bonds are blood ties,' the minister said at the conference that is being attended by about 200 captains of business and industry from the two countries.

'If I had been asked by the (Indian) high commissioner earlier, I would have called it 'Strengthening partnerships when strengths are down' instead of 'Building partnerships when the chips are down',' Nkoane-Mashabane said.

Nkoane-Mashabane said although bilateral trade between India and South Africa has continued to grow since the multi-racial democratic elections in 1994, there was still a vast untapped potential and many opportunities existed for expanding this trade.

'India is South Africa's largest trading partner in South and South-East Asia and one of South Africa's top ten trading partners globally,' he added.