South African companies will soon be offered the opportunity to set up business partnerships and joint ventures with their counterparts in Ireland, one of the European Union’s (EU) fasting growing economies.
Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government’s Trade and Technology Agency that aids the development of Ireland’s innovative businesses, will send a trade mission to South Africa from May 6-10, led by International Trade Minister Michael Ahern.
The group, including government and private sector representatives, will visit Johannesburg and Cape Town. Emphasis will be on finding partners for Irish companies in the fields of information technology, education and training, freight and forwarding, waste treatment and telecommunications.
Currently the trade balance between Ireland and South Africa is weighted heavily in favour of Ireland. Irish exports to South Africa grew by 1,6% in 2001 to reach almost 385-million euros, while preliminary figures for 2002 show that exports are down by about 21% compared to 2001.
IT and telecommunications products account for over 60% of Irish exports to South Africa, dominated by the exports of multinational companies such as Dell and Intel, based in Ireland. The other main exports include pharmaceuticals, chemicals and food products.
Enterprise Ireland said it expects that a growing number of Irish software companies, particularly those companies producing applications for mobile telecommunications and Internet applications, will become active in the South African market.
Since it seems very clear that South Africa will be the powerhouse for the development of the mobile telecommunications sector throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, Irish companies recognised that partnerships locally will be beneficial to their future prospects in the entire region.
Meanwhile, South African exports to Ireland in 2001 amounted to R790,6-million and showed a small decrease over the year. The major products exported to Ireland are food (fruit and vegetables), fuel (in the form of coke and anthracite) and other commodity products.
Reflecting increased competitiveness due to the lower value of the rand in 2002, preliminary figures for the year indicate that exports to Ireland for the year increased at a rate of around 9% to reach R855,3-million.
A number of prominent Irish companies have made investments in South Africa in recent years, among them Independent Newspapers, Guinness, Athlone Laboratories and Spectra group.
Other major Irish companies such as the Irish Dairy Board and Gilbey’s have local representative offices.
Selected companies are being invited to meet the mission, mostly in one-on-one meetings with their Irish counterparts.
“We are not arranging open seminars,” said Enterprise Ireland’s South Africa representative Michelle Cohen. “The plan is to bring like-minded companies together on a one-to-one basis so that they can exchange ideas and knowledge. This could lead to the establishment of partnerships and long- lasting business relationships.”
The mission was inspired by the huge interest shown in South Africa at an “Open Week” in Dublin last October – the most recent of the annual visits arranged by Enterprise Ireland for its representatives round the world.
Cohen was inundated with enquiries, to the point that she had to address groups of people, when she could no longer accommodate individual interviews.
“Most interest is in the IT, telecoms and software sectors,” Cohen elaborated. “Ireland is one of the top three exporters of software in the world and there is a great deal of interest in linking up with South African companies to supply into the IT sectors generally and into the developing mobile telecommunications sector in South Africa and across the region.
“Some Irish companies are also interested in partnerships with local companies that could manufacture components under license with an eye to re- exporting them to Ireland and the EU.
“This is not because South Africa offers the lowest labour costs, but because we have a labour force that is cost effective and competent. Raw materials are close at hand, and the business environment is regarded as sophisticated and trustworthy. Irish companies know we can produce quality goods that will be acceptable in the EU.”
Enterprise Ireland was also eager to exchange ideas and experiences and create closer working links with the National Association of Federated Chambers of Commerce (Nafcoc).
“We feel it would be interesting for Nafcoc to hear how Enterprise Ireland has assisted Irish companies in their development, training and in international marketing expertise — programmes which may be applicable to Nafcoc’s members, many of which are small companies” said Cohen.
“The Irish economy has had remarkable growth over the past ten years, powered by new technology start-ups which were assisted by Enterprise Ireland”.
While in Johannesburg, the Minister will have meetings with government ministries and other official bodies. In Cape Town, the mission will co-host a lunch with Chris Nissen, president of the Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce. It will also meet the Cape Town Business Partnership, to investigate its successful inner-city renewal programme.
Education and training is a major aspect of the visit. The mission will include representatives of two prominent institutions, Shannon College of Hotel Management and the American College of Dublin. Shannon College specialises in education for the hospitality sector.
“They will meet South African colleges to discuss ways of co-operating, and perhaps having student exchanges,” added Cohen.
Other Irish companies on the mission include International Airline Marketing (an international Freight Forwarding company), Optimum Ltd. (change management consultants), Solids Technology (a water management company, specialising in quality control and metering), CR2 (banking software and technology specialists) and Bord Bia, the Irish Food Export Promotion Agency.
Supporting Ahern in the official group will be executives from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and senior executives from Enterprise Ireland. – I-Net Bridge