CAPE TOWN – A group of 20 South African companies will exhibit their products and services in the 53rd edition of the Maputo International Trade Fair (FACIM).
The International Trade Fair will be taking place in Mozambique from 27 August-3 September 2017.
FACIM is an international multi-sectoral trade fair which is held annually to showcase Mozambique as an attractive destination for trade and investment.
The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme with the aim of increasing exports of South African manufactured products to Mozambique, has made the participation of the South African countries possible.
The EMIA’s objective is to develop export markets for South African products and services and to recruit new foreign direct investment into the country.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies says that FACIM will expose South African companies to trade and investment opportunities available in Mozambique as well as other countries participating in the exhibition.
The trade fair has grown significantly in popularity over the past years.
Companies
470 Foreign companies participated in the fair in 2011 and this increased to 700 in 2016.
Similarly, Mozambican companies increased from 1 000 to 3 200 in the same period.
Countries
33 Countries participated in the trade fair last year whereas 17 countries participated in 2011.
Visitors
More than 90 000 visitors passed through the fair’s turnstiles last year compared to 60 000 in 2011.
”the dti is striving to facilitate economic development through promoting outward investment, intra-Africa trade, regional industrialisation and infrastructure development within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the rest of Africa.
FACIM will be a good platform to promote South African manufactured products in the Mozambican market and beyond,” says Minister Davies.
Davies further adds that one of the dti’s strategic goals is to grow the South African manufacturing sector in order to promote industrial development, job creation, investment and exports.
“In order to achieve this objective, the department embarks on international missions and participate in targeted international trade exhibitions in order to promote exports of South African value-added goods and services to increase market share in markets in various regions of the world.
This will enable South African businesses to access global markets which will lead to them increasing their production, thereby growing the SA economy and creating employment,” says Minister Davies.
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.
