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A business delegation consisting of 27 South African companies will participate in the 52nd edition of the Maputo International Trade Fair, commonly known as FACIM which is taking place in the Mozambican capital from 29 August-4 September 2016. FACIM is an international multi-sectoral trade fair held annually to showcase Mozambique as an attractive destination for trade and investment.

The participation of the SA companies in the popular exhibition has been made possible by the Department of Trade and industry (the dti) through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme with the aim of increasing exports of South African manufactured products to Mozambique. The objective of the scheme is to develop export markets for South African products and services and to recruit new foreign direct investment into the country.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, FACIM will expose South African companies to trade and investment opportunities available in Mozambique and other countries participating in the exhibition.

Last year the trade fair attracted 680 foreign companies as compared to 651 foreign companies in 2014. 31 countries participated in trade fair last year as compared to 26 countries in 2014. Foreign countries that participated in FACIM 2015 include South Africa, Zimbabwe, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Macau, Indonesia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey and the Nordic countries, notably Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

”the dti is striving to facilitate economic development through promoting outward investment, intra-Africa trade, regional industrialisation and infrastructure development within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the rest of Africa. FACIM will be a good platform to promote South African manufactured products in the Mozambican market and beyond,” says Minister Davies.
He adds that one of the dti’s strategic goals is to grow the South African manufacturing sector in order to promote industrial development, job creation, investment and exports.

“In order to achieve this objective, the department embarks on international missions and participate in targeted international trade exhibitions in order to promote exports of South African value-added goods and services to increase market share in markets in various regions of the world. This will enable South African businesses to access global markets which will lead to them increasing their production, thereby growing the SA economy and creating employment,” says Minister Davies.

Mozambique is one of South Africa’s top five trade partners in the SADC region. Trade between the two countries totaled more than R39 billion in 2015.

Issued by Department of Trade and Industry