The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) in partnership with Proudly South African today conducted a hybrid workshop aimed at encouraging manufacturers and producers to prioritise the use of local production inputs in their manufacturing activities.
Held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber in Gqeberha, the hybrid workshop was attended by more than 74 potential and existing exporters, bringing together role players in the export development and promotion value chain. In addition to the localisation agenda, the workshop provided critical information on government incentives offered by various institutions such as Proudly South African, the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency, the Department of Trade and Industry and Competition, as well as the ECDC. The discussion also included opportunities and benefits offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The workshop programme featured an exciting line up of speakers which included the ECDC’s Trade, Economic Research and Insight Specialist Ntandazo Mbenya who provided An Overview and SWOT Analysis of the Eastern Cape’s Export Proficiency - Volumes (values) Per Sector, Proudly South African’s Happy Ngidi presented on Promoting Localisation, the dtic’s Andre de Lange spoke on Navigating Government Funding and Incentives, while Liya Cherian from the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency outlined Government Support for Entrepreneurs.
ABSA’s Poala Bilborough presented on available Trade Finance Products, Kingsley Dell-Robertson from the Industrial Development Corporation addressed the workshop on Unlocking IDC Incentives for Business Growth and Expansion, Bidvest’s Vhudi Mmaphasa and Deysie Naicker provided insights on Travel and Forward Exchange Cover, the dtic’s Thabang Mamaru spoke on AfCFTA: Opportunities and Challenges for African Businesses, while Tralac’s Trudi Hartzenberg spoke about Tariff Reductions/Non-Tariff Barriers, Rules of Origin & Customs Procedures.
The ECDC’s Trade Promotion Specialist Linda Lubengu reiterated the ECDC’s commitment to empowering Eastern Cape companies with the necessary skills to improve their competitiveness in an everchanging global economic landscape. The ECDC is working with public and private sector partners to open market access opportunities for potential and existing Eastern Cape exporters in order to improve the value and number of exports from the province.
