THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
2421. Mr G G Hill-Lewis (DA) to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry:
Whether his department will be partaking in a trade fair in Zimbabwe
in September or October 2013; if so, (a) what is the name of the trade
fair, (b) what is the total cost of participation to his department,
(c) which local municipalities were invited to participate, (d) which
local companies are participating, (e) what is the total cost of
participation for each partaking municipality and (f) what are the
benefits of participation for the municipalities? NW2906E
Reply:
a) The department (the dti) will not be participating in any trade fair
in Zimbabwe in September nor October 2013. The department is
organizing its 5th annual Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) to
Zimbabwe (in Harare and Bulawayo) from 14-18 October 2013, which will
be led by Deputy Minister Thabethe. The programme for the ITI will
comprise of an exhibition, sectoral round table discussions, business
to business meetings and site visits in each city. The objective of
this initiative is to increase trade and investment between South
Africa and Zimbabwe. It is an ideal platform for South African
companies who would like to export value added products and services
and for companies who are looking for investment opportunities in
Zimbabwe.
b) The total budget for the 5th ITI to Zimbabwe amounts to R3.2 million.
c) The invitation was sent to all 9 provincial trade and investment
promotion agencies for them to recruit companies in their respective
provinces to participate in the 5th ITI to Zimbabwe.
d) 46 companies have applied to participate in the 5th ITI to Zimabwe,
through the dtiâs Export Marketing Incentive Assistance (EMIA) scheme.
the dti is in the process of finalizing the approval of participating
companies. By 1 October 2013, a list of participating companies will
be available.
e) Companies that have applied to participate at this ITI under EMIA
scheme will be funded by the dti. There are some companies that opt
to participate at their own cost.
f) Participating companies will have an opportunity to interface with
their Zimbabwean counterparts with the aim of forging partnerships and
joint-ventures. This ITI will increase the market knowledge of
participating companies about the Zimbabwean market and the know-how
to do business in Zimbabwe. It will also allow participating companies
an opportunity to identify distributors of their products in Zimbabwe
and to generate export sales (and orders).