Every time the rand falls we have reason to rejoice The Johannesburg-based International Trade Bureaux predicts a substantial increase in exports on the back of the sliding rand, according to m.d Alan Tiley.
Tiley said the ITB had already experienced an increase in interest from companies wanting to export products. The ITB is a private organisation that assists companies to export goods, particularly smaller concerns that do not have the money to set up their own export departments.
We deal a lot with companies that want to export for the first time, he said. For a fee of R3 500 a month a company can contract ITB as its export agent - in sharp contrast to the approximately R35 000 it costs to run an inhouse exporting division, he said.
Companies that export qualify for a R1 500 subsidy, which reduces the monthly cost even further. ITB also seeks out markets for its clients and signs deals on their behalf.
We have a formula that works and will keep fine-tuning it until it works even better, Tiley said.
Tiley said only 20 000 businesses were registered exporters, out of 470 000 registered companies. However, this small number could begin to change as demand for SA goods picked up with the falling rand.
Every time the rand falls we have reason to rejoice, he said. we have already seen the signs that our exports are going to increase. Although years of isolation have made SA businesses very insular, it has also turned them into manufacturers. Isolation forced us to become a nation of manufacturers because we had to make everything ourselves, he said.
SA products are very competitive, in spite of criticism to the contrary. Tiley said products like food, medicine, furniture and machinery were in demand. He said he even had a client who sold tools to Taiwan.
It has been my experience that SA goods meet world standards. I believe we are going to see a surge in exports.
