Each Export Councils shared their experience and cast light on the challenges and opportunities they face and have identified from their individual point of view.
A focus of today’s engagement was the central role that Wesgro can take in facilitating export development. The figures of Wesgro’s performance in facilitating international trade and development are impressive. It was revealed at today’s workshop that in the past 5 years, Wesgro trained 2433 companies in export development, attracted R8,8 billion in investment and assisted 939 companies with outbound trade missions. All in all, these activities facilitated the creation of 5705 jobs during this period.
A standout from today’s workshop was also the fact that the Cape is a gateway to Africa, having facilitated R45 billion in exports in 2016, and is perfectly located to take advantage of Africa’s growth towards 2050. Importantly, the Western Cape is an incredibly important economy on the African continent – ranked 8th, it outperforms the entire Kenyan economy. The Western Cape also dominates in the export of agricultural products in South Africa, with 53,2% of total exports for the sector in 2016.
Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro said that “today was the first step in the forging of long term partnerships in the export sector. The discussions from today’s workshop were fruitful and will form the foundation of ongoing collaboration and relationship building.
South Africa, and specifically the Western Cape and Cape Town, is perfectly situated to continue to dominate the export space on the African continent. Harnessing knowledge and relationships, Wesgro is excited to expand our efforts even further as we move into the future in partnership with the Export Councils represented at today’s workshop.”