Small businesses are set to benefit from a partnership between the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and global shipping and logistics company, DHL.
The partnership, which is aimed at expanding the footprint of emerging exporters in regional and global trade, was formally announced on Tuesday at an official launch event at the DHL Baobab Facility in Waterfall City in Gauteng. The launch included the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the dtic and DHL.
The signing marks the start of a strategic collaboration aimed at advancing South Africa's e-commerce export agenda and strengthening support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and emerging exporters.
The collaboration will be undertaken under the banner of DHL's GoTrade Programme, focusing on trade education, capacity-building programmes, business clinics, trade missions, corridor activation initiatives and increased awareness of key trade frameworks, including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and other trade agreements that create new opportunities for African businesses.
The partnership supports the dtic's broader objectives on industrialisation, export growth and emerging exporter development and promotion. It also reflects the department's ongoing efforts to work with private sector partners in building a more enabling environment for South African businesses to trade competitively.
DHL's GoTrade Programme is aligned to the dtic's newly launched eTrade South Africa Programme, which is centred on core strategic pillars aimed at equipping businesses with the knowledge, skills, tools and market access required to participate in cross-border e-commerce and successfully expand their global footprint.
"Today marks an important milestone in the dtic's efforts to build a stronger, more connected export development ecosystem. At the heart of the agreement we are signing with DHL is a shared commitment to combining our complementary strengths.
“Government provides policy support, market intelligence and exporter development programmes, while the private sector contributes operational expertise, technology, finance, logistics and direct access to markets," said the Acting Deputy Director-General of Exports at the dtic, Willem van der Spuy.
He said the dtic initiated this engagement with DHL because it recognised that its exporter development work could be significantly strengthened by bringing in the expertise of a global logistics and trade-enablement partner.
"eTrade South Africa will be powered by DHL's GoTrade initiative, bringing together the dtic's exporter development capabilities and DHL's practical expertise in logistics, trade facilitation, e-commerce and international market connectivity. Our ambition is simple: to help more South African MSMEs transition from businesses with export potential to businesses that are actively exporting and competing in global markets," said Van der Spuy.
He also pointed to the wider ecosystem taking shape around the partnership.
"The connection between the dtic's policy and exporter development mandate, DHL's logistics and trade enablement, Standard Bank's finance and financial solutions, and MTN's connectivity and digital capability can create something far more powerful than four separate interventions. We begin to build an export ecosystem around the MSME itself,” Van der Spuy concluded. – SAnews.gov.za
