Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin will lead a high-level trade
and investment promotion mission to the US from May 11 to 16.
He will be accompanied by officials from Trade and Investment South Africa (Tisa), the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and an executive from telecommunication utility Telkom.
The visit will focus primarily on the services, automotive and aerospace sectors, as well as specific opportunities in clothing and textiles and pharmaceuticals.
However, contrary to previous reports, Erwin will not be meeting with the broader US pharmaceutical industry in a bid to discuss the contentious issue of a deal relating to the trade-related aspects of intellectual property (Trips) and healthcare. The issue is currently in deadlock at the World Trade Organisation, and US drug manufacturers have been seen as primary opponents to the deal.
Speaking at a briefing in Pretoria yesterday, Tisa CEO Lungisa Magwentshu said that the mission’s key focus would be on trade and investment promotion and that issues up for negotiation, such as Trips and healthcare and the upcoming free-trade agreement between the US and the Southern African Customs Union were not on the agenda.
“We are hoping to reach out to companies that are not currently active locally,” Magwentshu reported.
“Our promotion centres around highlighting competitive advantages like technology, skills, infrastructure and raw materials,” he said.
He said that a priority would also be to market South Africa as a potential investment location for business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centres. Tisa believes that South Africa has significant competitive advantages in this area, which Tisa COO Ismail Dockrat listed to include: customer services and retention, including CRM and call centres; human resources and payroll administration; finance and accounting back-office functions; asset management of retail investment products; banking and related processing; property management services; logistics and procurement; insurance claims processing and administration; electronic media design; professional actuarial services and administration of retail investment products.
Dockrat also revealed that the Minister would engage with specific US firms that have already earmarked South Africa as a potential BPO and call centre investment site.
South African group Dimension Data will also host a session in New York with other potential participants in this environment, while international IT group EDS will host a gathering in Dallas with executives from Dell, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett Packard. Erwin will also meet with Ford, General Motors (GM) and possibly Chrysler, in Detroit, where he will urge these companies to play a larger role in the local automotive industry.
Currently, only Chrysler, through DaimlerChrysler South Africa, has fully bought into the local Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) by manufacturing the C-Class Mercedes-Benz for the export market.
However, neither Ford, which has operations north of Pretoria, nor GM, which operates through Delta Motor Corporation near Port Elizabeth, have wholly integrated the MIDP philosophy into their business plans. It is believed, however, that Ford may be close to making a decision on the establishment of an export platform in this country. It is anticipated that Erwin will use his visit to gently nudge the group towards a final decision.
It is understood that the mission will also attempt to encourage all three of the big motor groups to consider further integration of the South Africa auto component industry into their global sourcing systems.
Identified as one of its main focus areas, the mission will meet with the aerospace industry, including Boeing, in Chicago.
It is anticipated that the delegation will also need to field questions on the recent strengthening of the rand and currency volatility, as well as on government’s newly-released strategy for black economic empowerment.
Magwentshu admitted that the volatile rand made the job of export promotion difficult, but said that US firms looking to invest in the country generally used a dollar rather than a rand as their reference.
He said that black economic empowerment would not be a major focus of the mission, but that the delegation would explain the strategy and as well as any misconceptions that may have arisen about the issue.
Magwentshu said the success of the mission would be judged mainly on whether it yields any immediate business, but also on whether the mission was able to put South Africa on the radar of firms that had not previously considered the country as an investment possibility.
He will be accompanied by officials from Trade and Investment South Africa (Tisa), the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and an executive from telecommunication utility Telkom.
The visit will focus primarily on the services, automotive and aerospace sectors, as well as specific opportunities in clothing and textiles and pharmaceuticals.
However, contrary to previous reports, Erwin will not be meeting with the broader US pharmaceutical industry in a bid to discuss the contentious issue of a deal relating to the trade-related aspects of intellectual property (Trips) and healthcare. The issue is currently in deadlock at the World Trade Organisation, and US drug manufacturers have been seen as primary opponents to the deal.
Speaking at a briefing in Pretoria yesterday, Tisa CEO Lungisa Magwentshu said that the mission’s key focus would be on trade and investment promotion and that issues up for negotiation, such as Trips and healthcare and the upcoming free-trade agreement between the US and the Southern African Customs Union were not on the agenda.
“We are hoping to reach out to companies that are not currently active locally,” Magwentshu reported.
“Our promotion centres around highlighting competitive advantages like technology, skills, infrastructure and raw materials,” he said.
He said that a priority would also be to market South Africa as a potential investment location for business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centres. Tisa believes that South Africa has significant competitive advantages in this area, which Tisa COO Ismail Dockrat listed to include: customer services and retention, including CRM and call centres; human resources and payroll administration; finance and accounting back-office functions; asset management of retail investment products; banking and related processing; property management services; logistics and procurement; insurance claims processing and administration; electronic media design; professional actuarial services and administration of retail investment products.
Dockrat also revealed that the Minister would engage with specific US firms that have already earmarked South Africa as a potential BPO and call centre investment site.
South African group Dimension Data will also host a session in New York with other potential participants in this environment, while international IT group EDS will host a gathering in Dallas with executives from Dell, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett Packard. Erwin will also meet with Ford, General Motors (GM) and possibly Chrysler, in Detroit, where he will urge these companies to play a larger role in the local automotive industry.
Currently, only Chrysler, through DaimlerChrysler South Africa, has fully bought into the local Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) by manufacturing the C-Class Mercedes-Benz for the export market.
However, neither Ford, which has operations north of Pretoria, nor GM, which operates through Delta Motor Corporation near Port Elizabeth, have wholly integrated the MIDP philosophy into their business plans. It is believed, however, that Ford may be close to making a decision on the establishment of an export platform in this country. It is anticipated that Erwin will use his visit to gently nudge the group towards a final decision.
It is understood that the mission will also attempt to encourage all three of the big motor groups to consider further integration of the South Africa auto component industry into their global sourcing systems.
Identified as one of its main focus areas, the mission will meet with the aerospace industry, including Boeing, in Chicago.
It is anticipated that the delegation will also need to field questions on the recent strengthening of the rand and currency volatility, as well as on government’s newly-released strategy for black economic empowerment.
Magwentshu admitted that the volatile rand made the job of export promotion difficult, but said that US firms looking to invest in the country generally used a dollar rather than a rand as their reference.
He said that black economic empowerment would not be a major focus of the mission, but that the delegation would explain the strategy and as well as any misconceptions that may have arisen about the issue.
Magwentshu said the success of the mission would be judged mainly on whether it yields any immediate business, but also on whether the mission was able to put South Africa on the radar of firms that had not previously considered the country as an investment possibility.
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