Pretoria - Nineteen South African businessmen and women in the arts and crafts sector have been invited to showcase their products to an international market at the 31st India International Trade Fair (IITF) in India.
The group's participation in the internationally-acclaimed exhibition has been made possible by the Department of Trade and Industry, through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance.
The IITF, which takes place in Pragati Maiden, New Delhi from 14 to 27 November, is the largest integrated trade fair with both business to business and business to consumer components.
It is one of the largest trade fairs in the world both in terms of exhibitor and visitor participation. An estimated 7 500 exhibitors from all over the are expected to participating in the fair, which offers participants from different segments of industry adequate visibility for their products and services among fair visitors.
Among the products being displayed range from leather, textiles and handicrafts to jewellery furniture and furnishings.
The group will be accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe, who will also hold talks with Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister for Small and Micro Enterprises, Shri Virbhadra Singh.
Thabethe said the event would be an opportunity for the selected crafters from different provinces to put their products on the world platform. They will also be able to meet and interact within the business community attending the fair.
She explained that the crafters taken by the department to the this year's fair were first identified at the South African Handmade Collection, a uniquely proudly South African craft brand that promotes South African handmade products nationally and internationally.
South Africa first participated in the IITF in 2008 and the good reception that the South African products received encouraged us to send more businesspeople to display their products and market them internationally," Thabethe said.
One of the crafters, Mpho Modisakeng of Bokhomzi Projects, based in Luka near Rustenburg said she was looking forward to the trip as she hoped to sell her products and network with businesspeople from other countries, and strike long-term lucrative deals.
Bokhomzi manufactures mohair rugs, bags, cushions, coasters and placemats.
