SEDA to host Tri-Nations Summit on Small Business, 23 – 26 Aug

18 July 2006

South Africa’s Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) has announced that
it will be hosting the first Tri-Nations Summit on Small Business in
partnership with its counterparts in Brazil, Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às
Micro (SEBRAE), and India (NSIC). The summit is scheduled to take place at the
Durban International Convention Centre from Wednesday, 23 August, to Saturday,
26 August 2006.

According to SEDA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Wawa Damane, “This is an
important and strategic milestone for small business support in South Africa.
It will expose our small enterprise support agencies and small enterprises
themselves to international best practice in small enterprise support and
provide a platform for meaningful business linkages.”

The SEDA CEO and top management team have held meetings with the heads and
top management of both SEBRAE and the NSIC and identified areas of co-operation
during the course of the past year. These interactions have led to co-operation
agreements between SEDA and these strategic partners.

In addition to key role players within SEDA, SEBRAE and NSIC, it is
envisaged that the summit will be attended by leading public sector role
players across all tiers of government whose departments offer small enterprise
development support, organised business associations, private sector companies
involved in small enterprise development and academic and research institutions
focusing on small enterprise development.

According to the Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry,
Mr Tshediso Matona, although the relationship between SEDA and the two
institutions has been evolving over time, it also contributes to the overall
India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA). “To date, three IBSA Tri-lateral commissions
have been held with the South African delegations led by the Department of
Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry. At the third
Tri-Lateral Commission held in Brazil in March this year, the working group on
Trade and Industry once again highlighted the importance of co-operation in the
area of small business development. By hosting the Tri-Nations summit on Small
Business, Seda is providing a good platform to achieve this,” he says.

The summit seeks to strengthen the existing relationship between SEDA,
SEBRAE and NSIC through tangible deliverables; facilitate business linkages
between South African small businesses and their counterparts in Brazil and
India as well as exchange views on the regulatory environment, access to
finance and technology support. Addresses by the three heads of SEDA, NSIC and
SEBRAE will focus on institutional frameworks for small business development
and specific case studies on programmes that work.

The summit will host sessions focusing on the regulatory environment, access
to finance and technology support. The Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise
(SMME) exhibition will offer each country a pavilion to showcase products and
services from their small business sectors. These pavilions will be hosted by
SEDA, NSIC and SEBRAE. Participants will have an opportunity for one-on-one
organised networking to develop business linkages.

Enquiries:
Ms Manana Makhanya
Tel: (012) 441 1018

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
18 July 2006