Nine companies under the umbrella of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), representing an array of trade sectors, are participating in Apparel, Textile, Footwear and Machinery Trade Exhibition (ATF) Expo, which is being held in the port city of Cape Town, South Africa from 20-22 November.
ATF is South Africa's only sourcing show for the clothing, textile and footwear industries. The main objective of the event is to offer manufacturers, suppliers and service providers in these industries a truly effective opportunity to reinforce business with South African buyers establish new contacts in Africa and to explore various other global trade opportunities.
It is expected that ATF will attract over 3,300 trade professionals and more than 120 exhibitors from over 10 countries. Cape Town is the 'Retail Head Quarter' of these industries. ATF has been organised regularly for last 12 years and attracts companies from different countries across the world including competitors of Pakistan like Bangladesh, China and India.
In terms of participation by the exhibitors most of the exhibitors are international exhibitors whereas the buyers are mostly from South Africa and neighbouring African countries. South Africa has limited number of buyers, however due to their monopoly they are involved in huge buying which sometimes runs in billions. Pakistani exports are on rise in Sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana etc.
Concurrently, High Commission of Pakistan will be holding a seminar in Cape Town on November 20, on doing business with Pakistan. All the leading chain stores, importers and businessmen will attend the seminar. In the seminar, South African delegates, who recently attended Expo 2013 at Karachi will share their experiences of the Expo, travel to Pakistan and business opportunities available in Pakistan. Qamar Zaman, Commercial Secretary, will give a detailed briefing to the participants on the commercial vibrancy of Pakistan, its exports products, investment opportunities etc.
Export of Pakistan to South Africa has increased from US $268 million to US $280 million. The exports of Pakistan to Mozambique have grown to US $100 million from US $70 million over the last financial year. Therefore, TDAP is further converging efforts to gain bigger share. At the moment, the share of Pakistan in the overall South African imports of more than US $103 billion is negligible. However, Sub-Saharan African countries are increasingly becoming a potential market having tremendous opportunities for growth for the Pakistani exporters.-PR