The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe will lead a group of forty-seven South African companies to the 54th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) which will be taking place in Bulawayo from 23 to 27 April 2013. The ZITF is a multi-sectoral, multi-national expo which is widely recognised as the largest intra-regional trade fair south of the Sahara. This year’s exhibition will be held under the theme “Building value, Enhancing growth.”
The companies that will be exhibiting at the fair have been assisted by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme (EMIA).
The objective of the scheme is to develop export markets for South African products and services and to recruit new foreign direct investment into the country. This is done through provision of marketing assistance to develop new export markets and grow existing export markets, and identification of new export markets through market research, amongst others.
“As the ZITF has a strong international orientation, it will offer regional and international business contacts to the South African exhibitors. They will also get an opportunity to market their products and services, increase their market knowledge of Zimbabwe, increase exports of South African manufactured goods and services, obtain trade leads, and generate export orders. Also, by establishing their presence in Zimbabwe, the South African companies will be able to access other markets in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region like Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola,” said Thabethe.
She added that it was important for South Africa to continue pursuing economic collaboration and partnerships with Zimbabwe for the purpose of achieving sustainable economic development and integration in the SADC region.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti
