The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday where she is leading a group of forty-seven South African companies which will be participating in the 54th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF). The trade fair will take place in Bulawayo from tomorrow to Saturday, 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”.
Deputy Minister Thabethe’s programme of activities begins today when she speaks at the Zimbabwe Water Resources and Infrastructure Investment Summit which will also be held in Bulawayo. Policy-makers, regulators, water service providers, financiers and water resource managers, amongst others, will attend the summit which is aimed at identifying priorities and mechanisms for more effective water resource integration in Zimbabwe. Later in the day, Thabethe will visit the Mayor of Bulawayo, Councillor Thaba Moyo and the Governor of Bulawayo, Mr Cain Mathema.
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.
Thabethe said the ZITF has a strong international orientation and 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,” added Thabethe.
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
