Seizing the ball

More than 450,000 spectators from around the world are expected to converge in South Africa in June 2010 for the first World Cup to be held on the African continent – including many businesspeople. To take advantage of this influx, the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry has just launched a B2B project for local and international businesses. During the event, it is offering to organise inter-business meetings in order to allow participants to develop ties. “Our members don’t know each other any better than foreign businesses know them. Foreign businesspeople are not necessarily aware of what South Africa has to offer. We think that the World Cup will provide an exceptional opportunity to meet, and why not, to construct synergies via joint ventures or partnerships above and beyond import-export. The whole world will be watch South Africa,” according to Nada Reyneke, in charge of external trade for the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce.
With B2B events, business visits, and above all, meetings to help discover local economic possibilities, the Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban Chambers of Commerce are letting no opportunity pass them by. They are also offering to help interested parties prepare their trip by providing information on visas, health, lodging, airport transfers, and even safaris and trips to bordering countries. The project was presented during the meeting held last June in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which brought together Chambers of Commerce from around the world. Still in its initial phase, the initiative has been communicated to foreign embassies in South Africa, and to South African embassies worldwide. Feedback has been encouraging. “We had a visit from the São Paulo Chamber of Commerce in September. The idea has been met with positive reactions so far,” says Nada Reyneke.
In recession since the month of May, South Africa intends to use the World Cup to boost its economy over the long term.

Email contact: trade@jcci.co.za