South African companies exhibiting their wares at the Mozambique International Trade Fair, which is also known FACIM, are pleased with the steady progress they are registering in efforts to access the market in the neighbouring country.
The companies, which are showcasing their products and services, are at the trade fair as a result of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (dti) funding.
Kama Industries’ Product Specialist, Bert Urban, said his company’s audible and visual signalling devices will soon be making their way to Mozambique after successfully negotiating a deal with an electrical wholesaler on the sidelines of the trade fair.
“The company has offices in Maputo, Tete and Cabo Delgado provinces where our products will be distributed after we have signed a contract to appoint them as our distributing agency in Mozambique. This will give us an opportunity to access the mining and industrial markets here and enable us to export our products to various provinces,” said Urban on Thursday.
Urban’s company is based in Johannesburg.
He is among the other South African business people who have expressed satisfaction with the exposure their companies are receiving at the popular trade fair since it started on Monday.
They are optimistic of returning to South Africa on Sunday with a notable number of deals, trade leads and orders that will see them exporting products and services to Mozambique in the near future.
One of the popular exhibition stands at the South African pavilion at FACIM is that of Fred Footwear from Port Elizabeth.
The company’s range of products, which includes school shoes, designer, formal and casual shoes, leather sandals and safety shoes, have caught the attention of many people who visit the exhibition.
Managing Executive of the company, Ronald Eboru, whose company is already exporting to Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, said the company has held a fruitful meeting with a family that develops and owns retail properties.
“In addition to individual visitors who are interested in buying our products, I had a fruitful meeting with a family that develops and owns retail properties in Mozambique. We discussed the possibility of them distributing our products in the country, as well as us occupying some of the retail space in one of their shopping centres and selling the full range of our products from there,” said Eboru.
Vivian Pillay of the Durban-based Stainless Connection, was also delighted after getting an opportunity to introduce his company’s products and services to five food-processing and construction companies.
“Representatives of all of these companies showed interest in our products and services, although most of them are looking for full packages for turnkey projects. We were impressed with the interest that they showed and we are confident that whenever they have decided to implement their plans we will be one of the companies that they will prioritise for procurement,” said Pillay.
The delegation is funded through the dti’s Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme with the aim of increasing exports of South African manufactured products to Mozambique.
FACIM is an international multi-sectoral trade fair held annually to showcase Mozambique as an attractive destination for trade and investment. Almost 2 000 companies from more than 30 countries are participating in the trade fair.
Mozambique is South Africa’s third largest trade partner in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region after Botswana and Namibia. Trade between the two countries increased from R29 billion in 2012 to R43 billion in 2016. There are currently 300 South African companies operating in Mozambique.
The trade fair will run until Sunday. – SAnews.gov.za
