The South African (SA) expos which were hosted in Beijing and Shanghai recently have produced long-term mutual benefits and positive leads for South Africa’s business delegation who exhibited their products at the annual event.
Out of the sixty-three companies that participated and represented various sectors, Agro-processing especially wine proved to be the most popular product. For instance Simonsvlei, a wine producer in the Western Cape clinched R1,5 million worth of sales and secured 70 trade leads.
The Managing Director of Koopmanskloof Wines, Mr Rydal Jaftha, said that based on meetings held with Chinese wine buyers during the expo, an agreement was reached that an inward buying mission comprising 14 Chinese wine buyers would be arranged to South Africa, at the end of February 2013. The delegation will visit several South African wineries including Koopmanskloof Wines.
First time participant Angela Pitsi – Managing Director of Xchem Chemicals, has successfully identified a potential agent to market and distribute their products in China, while Oceanwise secured 20 trade leads signifying potential future business in China.
According to the Deputy Director-General of Trade and Investment South Africa within the dti, Ms Pumla Ncapayi said the SA expos are not commodity driven or consumer shows and are more focused on long-term business networks and linkages.
"These expos and Investment seminars which are run concurrently will be reviewed annually based on experiences and lessons learned, in order to achieve better results," said Ncapayi.
She also added that the dti values the relationship with China's Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai Commission of Commerce in supporting and marketing the expos. The partnership will be strengthened and enhanced to achieve the desired objectives for these expos.
The SA expos in China which were held over a period of four days attracted 1 100 and 781 visitors in Beijing and Shanghai respectively.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 079 492 1774
Tel: 012 394 1650
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
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