Groundwork Laid for Better Ties to South Africa

The South African American Business Assocation (SAABA), which sponsored a visit June 5-9 by members of South Africa’s high-tech, agriculture, textile and plastics industries, has laid the groundwork for increased trade ties between Georgia and South Africa, according to SAABA president, Francois

Botha.

      The establishment of business relationships, he told GlobalFax last week, now lies in the hands of the visiting participants.

      The South African delegation spent five days visiting companies and organizations in the Atlanta area and in Hall County, attending meetings with Georgia-based industry members in the hopes of forming trade ties and partnerships.

Vernon Naidoo, sales director for Cape Town-based Sweet-Orr textile manufacturers, met with members of the Apparel and Textile Institute at Southern Polytechnic University to learn more about Georgia’s textile technology, and to network for a U.S. distributor of the company’s protective clothing line.

Evert Eek, director of Cape Town-headquartered LoveSoy, a company that develops soy-based dairy products including powdered milk and marshmallows, sought distributors for his goods, and made presentations to both Wholefoods and International Food Concepts food stores.

Wendy Thomson, representative of Pretoria’s AST Group, one of South Africa’s largest information technology (IT) firms, met with Atlanta companies to promote the outsourcing of web development, restructuring and IT maintenance to her in company in South Africa where such services can be completed for half

the cost charged in the U.S.

Protocor 35 Ltd.’s president, Clarence Rule, whose company manufactures telecom infrastructure products, sought distributors for his high-tech products and marketing contacts in Atlanta.

Chris Oelofse, a representative of South Africa’s Orange Free State, visited members of Georgia’s textile and pharmaceutical industries to establish relationships for economic development in his region.

The delegation also attended an evening reception hosted by the Southern Center for International Studies (SCIS) and a dinner sponsored by Arnall, Golden and Gregory law firm. Four participants were interviewed for CNN’s ‘Inside Africa’ program while visiting the CNN studios.

“The feedback from the program, both from Georgian and South African participants, has been very positive, and we are hopeful that business relationships will follow,” concluded Mr. Botha.

For more information about the program or future SAABA delegations, contact Mr. Botha at (404) 252-1867.