DTI encourages FS SMMEs to export goods and services

The department of trade and industry (DTI) on Monday hosted an export awareness roadshow in the Free State, as part of its plan to encourage small and medium businesses in the province to export their products overseas.

The DTI’s deputy director for export promotion, trade and investment, Seema Sardha, said the visit to the province was aimed at ensuring that more South African SMMEs export their products to emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) which have bilateral business agreements with the country.

Speaking at the second provincial stakeholder consultative meeting on the review of the National Export Strategy (NEC), Sardha said the aim of the department is to increase export levels with six percent annually by 2030.

Sardha said the department is also focusing its energy in encouraging exporting of non-traditional services such as human resources and specialised IT services and solutions offered by SA companies. According to Sardha, the department expects to increase export to its non-traditional markets with 10 percent annually by 2030.

She said the National Development Plan aims to create 11 million jobs by 2030 through, among other things, focusing on exporting SA products and services to emerging markets that have been neglected in the past.

“We need to focus more on the logistics, promoting manufacturing industries and improving areas of competitiveness and also tap into the tourism market that is already booming.”

Sardha said the NES will be reviewed periodically with the involvement of the public through roadshows to be held across the country.

She added that the SA economy is growing, albeit slowly, despite the global economic crisis which caused havoc in 2008.

The DTI’s overall objective is to increase job creation and reduce poverty despite the decline in economic growth.

“We had to ask ourselves how we can grow the economy and accelerate the speed at which the economy is growing.”

Sardha said that South Africa had exported much of its products to countries such as Europe and needed to export more aggressively to BRICS countries, Latin America and African countries where there are ample untapped market opportunities.

Exports to Europe have declined from 36 percent in 2008 to 27 percent in 2012. There was also a decline in exports to Asia and China from 22 percent to 19 percent during the same period.

She said SA companies export the lowest amount of goods and services to the Middle East countries and Latin America, with both continents receiving less that three percent of the total volume of goods exported from the country.

She attributed the barrier to export growth to restrictive trade regulations, as well as high energy, telecommunications, transport and logistic costs. “We however need to reduce the trade-related costs and also attempt to overcome failures in the markets.”