The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is looking forward to putting on a credible showing at the 54th Feira International de Maputo (FACIM), as it hosts a South African Pavilion that will showcase goods and services from twenty-three local companies.

FACIM, which ranks as the biggest trade show in Mozambique, will be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 26 August to 3 September 2018.  The popular annual trade fair, which caters for a variety of products and services attracts the attention of companies from the world over.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, says that the South African government through the National Industrial Policy Framework seeks to promote intra-Africa Trade and an increase on the levels of industrialisation in the Southern African Development Community and the rest of the African continent.

“The promotion of South Africa’s commercial value proposition at FACIM is a significant tool towards the achievement of this important objective,” says Davies.

Davies adds that another objective for showcasing at FACIM is to reduce the current trade imbalance between South Africa and Mozambique, which sees South African goods and services holding a dominant position over those of Mozambique.

“The total trade volume in 2017 stood at R51 billion and the trade balance between our countries in 2017 was R 26.6 billion in favour of South Africa. It is this imbalance that we are actively trying to steer away from by ensuring that both our countries significantly benefit from our bilateral relations and that the economic benefits of growth and development are accrued on both sides of our borders,” he says.  

Companies that will form part of South Africa’s delegation possess a myriad of expertise that ranges from the energy sector, air conditioning for vehicles, textiles, agro-processing, art and crafts, furniture, construction equipment, steel, portable water systems and hair products.

In 2017, FACIM hosted 1940 exhibitors, 1 400 national and 540 international companies from 20 countries and was visited by 80 000 people.