Rustenburg - A North West mining supply company will get an opportunity to showcase its products and services internationally when it participates in the Filda Trade Exhibition in Luanda, Angola.
Rustenburg-based Prelec Mining Supplies is one of the almost 20 companies that will be located in the South African Pavilion provided by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) at the exhibition.
This is part of the department’s efforts to assist the South African companies seek trade and investment opportunities in various markets, particularly across the continent.
“Participating in Filda is in line with our ambitions and strategic plans to extend our footprint into the continent. We are looking forward to interacting with businesspeople from various countries. As a company, we are specifically targeting businesspeople operating in electrical engineering space including the mining industry and state-owned entities responsible for their countries’ electricity supply,” said managing director of Prelec, Reuben Matlapeng.
Matlapeng said his company’s products, which include electrical cables, electrical connectors, safety products, high-pressure cleaners, and heavy duty machinery lubricants, were already being exported to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
“As part of our efforts to penetrate the African market, we participated in the mining exhibition that took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last month, where we were also assisted by the dtic. We had good trade leads there, which we hope will soon develop into concrete deals. We have noticed that the demand for our products is starting to grow and we are optimistic that we will have a successful trip to Angola.”
Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Nomalungelo Gina said the return on investment for the dtic would be seeing companies supported by the department returning from Angola with deals.
It was expected that returning back with export orders would assist companies to employ more people and investing in growing their businesses to increase production in order to service the new export deals, thereby contributing to job creation, increased export revenue and growing the South African economy.
According to the dtic, bilateral trade between South Africa and Angola stood at just above R10 billion last year, with South Africa exporting goods worth R4.8 billion to Angola, and importing goods to the value R5.3 billion from the country during the period.
The Filda Trade Exhibition was planned to start from July 12-16 but was postponed to July 16-20 due to a week-long mourning period declared in Angola, following the death of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Filda is one of the largest and most popular multi-sectoral trade exhibitions in Africa. Last year, even in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, 750 exhibitors from almost 18 countries participated in the exhibition, with almost 20 000 visitors passing through its turnstiles.
IOL