South Africa will make its first appearance in the Dar Es Salaam International Trade Fair when fourteen companies participate in the 38th edition of the popular fair taking place from 28 June to 8 July 2014. The participation of the companies has been made possible by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) through its Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme and it is part of the department’s export development strategy aimed at boosting the country’s export capacity.
 
According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, the dti responded positively to an invitation by the organisers of the trade fair because it believed that the fair would provide a platform to strengthen bilateral trade between South Africa and Tanzania with the expectation of promoting intra-Africa trade as well as economic integration of the continent.
 
“As a department, we recognise the importance of increasing trade between South Africa and other countries on the continent with the aim of boosting intra-Africa trade. In order to achieve this, it is incumbent upon us to bring the key role players, the businesspeople, into contact with each other so that they can explore ways and means of doing business between the two countries. We are confident that the group of businesspeople that we have assisted to participate in the multi-sectoral international trade fair in Tanzania will not only showcase the best of the products and services that this country can offer, but will also find markets in East Africa to export their products to, and identify opportunities for investment and joint ventures,” said Minister Davies.
 
He added that participating in the fair will enable representatives of the companies to gain regional and international business contacts from other companies exhibiting in the fair, increase market knowledge about the Tanzanian market, appoint agents or distributors for their products, obtain few dozen trade leads and probably sign a significant number of export orders.
 
Tanzania is South Africa’s 13th largest trading partner in Africa. Trade between South Africa and Tanzania currently stands at R4.67 billion. However, there is a significant trade surplus in favour of South Africa as Tanzania sources a sizeable portion significant of its imports from South Africa.
 
During the past year, South Africa remained the 4th largest exporter to the Tanzanian market  The main products exported to Tanzania last year included base metals and articles, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, sound recorders, mineral products, prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and transport equipment.