Helping hand for exporters
[caption id="attachment_38285" align="alignright" width="300"] EXPORT-READY: Stucken Group project manager Jacques Dippenaar and Export Marketing and Investment Assistance scheme director Donald Mabusela shake hands on a partnership involved in taking products and goods from Nelson Mandela Bay to the rest of the world. Picture: CINDY PRELLER[/caption]
The sky is the limit for Nelson Mandela Bay firms wanting to do business with the rest of the world. This was the word from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)which yesterday presented a Trade and Export Workshop in partnership with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality at the City Hall in Port Elizabeth.
The workshop was attended by business owners and representatives from various industries including the construction, tourism, manufacturing and fishing sectors.
Stucken Group project manager Jacques Dippenaar told how the DTI, through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (Emia) scheme, helped the processor and trader of wool and mohair market its products overseas.
Dippenaar said the Port Elizabeth company was assisted by Emia to gain exposure to overseas markets by attending various exhibitions abroad.
Asked what this exposure meant for the group, he said the company "received inquiries from big brand companies such as Guess and Armani. We received orders from these European brands which were worth millions of rands," Dippenaar said.
Emia director Donald Mabusela said this arm of the DTI encouraged South Africans to export their goods and services by paying some of their expenses when they went out to look for opportunities to export their products overseas.
"Marketing products locally and internationally is an expensive process. We make funding available and pay for a number of expenses to carry some of the burden, and in this way make it easier for you to export products and goods overseas," Mabusela said.
In the new financial year R240-million was allocated to Emia, Mabusela said, and during the previous financial year R210-million, which was used to assist 1800 companies with their export needs.
Companies, of all sizes, could apply for funding to Emia but had to be operational for at least a year and have a valid tax clearance certificate.
Mabusela said it was important for businesses to be export-ready by looking at the type of products they were selling and how they were performing in the domestic market.
Apart from partially compensating the travelling costs incurred in developing export markets for SA products and services, Mabusela said Emia also recruited foreign direct investment in SA by identifying new export markets through its market research.
Trade and Investment South Africa (Tisa) facilitator Mack Phohu said as another arm of the DTI, Tisa's primary objective was to boost the capability and capacity of businesses to promote exports.
Tisa also helped with the sourcing and matching of trade leads but focused on capacity building in offering mentorship programmes for smaller enterprises as well as export training.
The training, offered through the NEDP (National Exporter Development Programme), was tailored for various levels of businesses from global exporters, such as the Stucken Group, to emerging exporters, such as smaller start-ups and entrepreneurial businesses.
Yesterday's workshop, which also focused on how businesses could manage their marketing, pricing and documentation, will continue this morning and close around lunchtime. - Cindy Preller
