South African companies participating in the Outward Selling Mission (OSM) to Saudi Arabia are working hard as they engage in various meetings in the kingdom’s capital city, Riyadh, to secure business partnerships that will grant them export access to the new market.
On the first day of the mission, the focus was on facilitating business-to-business meetings between South African companies and potential partners from Saudi Arabia. These interactions were designed to pave the way for sustainable business collaborations and partnerships.
A total of 12 South African companies, including one Export Council, have been approved by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) to participate in this initiative. These companies manufacture a range of products related to medical equipment and the agro-processing sector.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chuck Chilli, Ms Boikano Sikwane said she is excited about the opportunity to test the new market for her product.
“Our product is a chunky ready to eat chilli relish, cooked with fresh chillies and other vegetables, packed with a unique flavour and aroma. We are exploring export opportunities and hope our unique flavour could blend well with the region as we work to find a potential partner for distribution. Although not much has happened yet, we believe the series of meetings and site visits to business entities will help us to clinch deals before we leave. We have planned meetings with some agents as well as distributors and there are a couple of speciality stores that we are eyeing as well,” she said.
Ms Hendrina Botes is the CEO of Meant to Bee, a company that produces high-quality South African honey. She said in this trade mission her company is interested in distributors in the food and healthy lifestyle retail sector to bring their product into the Saudi market.
“We are looking for partners who already understand the consumer buying behaviour and volume requirements in this region, and who can help us build a long-term consistent supply chain. We have a number of meetings planned with various key figures among them potential investors, distributors and merchandisers. These engagements are very focused, and we are confident that they can lead to export opportunities and long-term collaboration in the Saudi market,” she said.
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Bongani Lukhele – Director: Media Relations
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