Johannesburg, July 26 - The South African government is to press its regional partners in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) to speed up the finalisation of the preferential trade agreement with India that could double the current $6-billion trade between the two countries.

SACU consists of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

'We have been going far too slowly on the preferential trade agreement,' South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies conceded to captains of business and industry from India and South Africa at the closing session Saturday of the Doing Business with India Conference organised here by the Indian mission and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

'We are saying where can we give each other preferences. Let us try to accommodate each other in ways that are mutually beneficial, so this trade agreement is very important.'

'The reasons that I heard it is moving so slowly has to do with the dynamics of SACU itself,' Davis said.