A focused and targeted outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) strategy is being developed in the Western Cape. This, said Denan Kuni, head of international trade and development at Wesgro, would allow the province to far more accurately target countries in which Western Cape companies should be investing. “Currently, outward investment deals are already materialising as an off-shoot of trade missions,” he said. “The intention is to develop a focused approach around which countries to target in terms of OFDI and to identify specific projects within these countries that would attract investment from Western Cape companies.” According to Kuni an important strategy in 2018 is to improve the export enabling environment and international competitiveness of the province, addressing some of the biggest non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade. “We also hope to increase demand for goods and services through market prioritisation, diversification and access while at the same time diversifying the export basket into more value-added and manufactured goods and services.” He said the trade promotion team would in coming months undertake strategy development and market analysis of several countries in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic, where recent gains had been made due to outward missions. “An overall framework for engagement with Eastern European countries will be developed,” he said. “We are also in the process of undertaking an in-depth review of the Canadian market. While Wesgro’s efforts have been centred on the US market for a number of years, there are a number of opportunities that can be pursued with Canada – including export of wines and fruit juices and assisting the investment team in attracting Canadian investment in the renewable energy and ICT sectors. The Western Cape’s boat building expertise can also be leveraged in the development of trade ties with Canada.” Kuni said greater engagement with the BRICS countries could also be expected. “Currently, trade promotion efforts are centred on enhancing trade relations with each country separately, outside of the BRICS framework. There is a need to engage the BRICS secretariat in order to access opportunities and funding mechanisms under the BRICS framework such as the new BRICS Development Bank that has recently been established,” he told FTW. According to Kuni development of the Halal Export Strategy will continue in 2018 with funding having been secured from the department of economic development. “This funding will allow us to now develop that strategy as well as start implementing it.” The strategy that is already some years in the making seeks to identify international Halal export markets and to develop strong relations with key government and business stakeholders in these markets. Kuni said there was a busy year ahead for the international trade team at Wesgro as there were also plans to strengthen the export promotion mechanisms in an attempt to grow the provincial exporter base significantly.
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