Incoming trade missions hit record highs

Africa still a growing focus Alan Peat AFTER LARGE numbers of incoming trade missions were abruptly cancelled last year following Sept-ember 11, figures have hit record levels this year, according to Maria Mhlongo, trade mission co-ordinator at the Johannesburg Chamber of Comm-erce & Industry (JCCI). Although the yearly average has been running at about 50-60 incoming trade missions, last year the number fell to 30 - with 11 being cancelled in the last quarter. "But this year we are expecting the number to be close to 100 trade missions, with most of last year's cancellations now added to our 2002 diary," said Mhlongo. And the list of source countries makes for interesting reading, she added. Trade missions as diverse as one from the Mercosur countries - a South American free trade area comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and one in which SA is investigating membership - Cuba, China, Belarus and Slovenia are all booked for 2002. The delegation from Cuba - the first from the island to visit SA - arrived early in April. They're strong in pharmaceuticals and sugar and with a "very active" Chamber of Commerce, said Mhlongo. The Belarus delegation, which arrived last week, comprises representatives from 30 companies and is to be followed by the Slovenian delegation early this month. The third mission from Vietnam - a country which has figured surprisingly strongly in SA's Far Eastern trade - has also just called. "Africa is still a growing focus", Mhlongo told FTW, "particularly with the likes of Angola quietening down, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also steadying up. "We have an Ivory Coast week planned, for example, something we last held in 1998, and which proved very popular. "We have also just held a 'How to do Business in Nigeria' workshop, with booklets on this subject available for interested parties, and to which we had a strong response." The JCCI has also been in close contact with the Export Council in Kenya, another African area which has been a growing target for SA trade. "This month we shall have some of their staff down here," said Mhlongo, "as we try to familiarise them on how to activate their export council." There is no fall-off in visiting trade missions during a recession, according to Mhlongo. Rather the opposite. "With an economic slowdown there tends to be an increase in trade missions as countries try to increase their sales efforts to combat the poor conditions." But there's one very localised glitch on the horizon, Mhlongo told FTW. "We have been advising countries which wish to send delegations to avoid end August/September when the Earth Summit is to be held here in SA," she said. "The huge numbers expected to attend this will overload all our tourist/visitor facilities, and we've virtually deducted a month from the calendar." Outgoing missions, although not in Mhlongo's portfolio, are also shading upward in numbers, she told FTW. One primary area of interest this year is China, where local interest in this huge marketplace has been further stimulated for exporters with China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). There are three delegations going to China this year with one huge delegation from the food and beverages industry being a highlight of the programme for 2002.