Western Cape's vibrant export club turns up the volume for 2013

The Exporters Club Western Cape (ECWC) has big plans for 2013 as it steps up its activities and involvement in an effort to boost the province’s economic growth. First on the agenda is the revamped website, said the club’s chairman, Terry Gale. “The updating and revamping of our website is part and parcel of increasing our footprint and our voice in the Western Cape,” he told FTW. “The club has an important role to play in bringing exporters’ voices to the forefront and this is something we want to grow in the future.” At the same time Gale and his team have set themselves the task of raising the profile of the club in 2013. “We want to add our voice to the issues and problems that are hampering export at the moment as this is the one area we need to grow if we want to grow the province’s economy.” According to Gale, the ECWC, established some 30 years ago, remains an important forum to voice exporters’ concerns or give input on a variety of topics relevant to the export industry. “We have for instance been watching the recent farm worker strikes in the Western Province very carefully and have engaged with the President on the matter. Fruit exports are being hit hard by the ongoing strikes and it affects the entire province negatively.” He said the Club had also joined a provincial forum under the auspices of Premier Helen Zille where various role-players and stakeholders in the Western Cape get together to strategise and workshop how to grow the Western Cape economy. “We are also planning to attract speakers at our monthly functions that can truly add value to our members’ businesses.”