JOHANNESBURG – The advantages for the South African businesses to grow their footprint in Russia outweigh the few negatives business people face on the daily basis, the South African ambassador said on Thursday.
Assisting companies to participate in International trade exhibition confirms government‘s commitment to promoting South African products to international buyers and consumers, Nomasonto Sibanda-Thusi said during her interaction with South African business people at the World Food Moscow exhibition currently taking place in Russia.
“South African businesses of various product specialisation have an opportunity to showcase, sell, increase their footprint, and convey quality and high standards that South African products possess,” said Sibanda-Thusi in a statement released by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti).
“For an example, South African bottled wines have seen significant growth on supermarkets shelves, high-end restaurants, wine houses, as well as wholesalers and importers warehouses. Further, various spices and sauces from our country have also hit the shelves of supermarkets due to their health components and qualities.”
She said that the results from previous years of South African business participation at these expos especially at the World Food Moscow have contributed to the continuing growth of South African exports to Russia. At such food and beverages constitute more than 50 percent of total exports from South Africa to Russia.
The objective of setting up the South African National Pavilion at World Food Moscow is to promote South Africa’s agro-processing industry in order to consolidate and establish the market presence of South African products in Russia.
World Food Moscow 2017 hosted 1433 exhibitors from 65 countries specialising in food and beverage products with 78 percent of the exhibitors reporting that they had a return of investment from exhibiting at the show. The fair attracted 28 922 visitors from 78 regions of Russia and 89 countries.