E Thabethe to lead business delegation to International Global Summit of
Women, 10 – 12 Jun

2 June 2006

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe, will lead
a 15 member delegation of businesswomen to the 2006 International Global Summit
of Women in Cairo, Egypt from 10 to 12 June 2006. The delegation will be drawn
from business women from all nine provinces and various sectors.

The Head of Gender and Women Empowerment unit at the Department of Trade and
Industry (the dti), Ms Mmabatho Matiwane, will accompany the Deputy
Minister.

The summit aims to accelerate the economic empowerment and development of
women globally. Items on the agenda include the use of technology to expand
women’s capacity to connect with their counterparts worldwide, the need for
women entrepreneurs to create alliances across borders, issues and trends that
impact on economic opportunities for women and the role of government in
supporting women entrepreneurship.

According to Ms Matiwane, the summit will enable South African businesswomen
to network with their peers from various parts of the world.

“At the summit our business women can market themselves and their businesses
internationally; they can negotiate and possibly conclude deals with other
business women. Moreover, the information and knowledge that they gain will
stand them in good stead. Networking will expose them international export
opportunities for their products and services,” she said.

She added that government officials attending the summit would learn more
about policies and models being implanted globally for the economic empowerment
of women.

For more information contact:
Bongani Lukhele
Media Relations
Tel: (012) 394 1643
Cell: 083 291 8689
E-mail: blukhele@thedti.gov.za

Henriette van der Merwe
Tel: (012) 394 1640
Cell: 082 572 8184

Please address all your media enquiries to:
mediarelations@thedti.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
2 June 2006