Sandton hosts International Industrial Expo

The Sandton Convention Centre opened its doors to the three-day South Africa International Industrial Expo (SAIIE), where 200 exhibitors presented their products to attendants. The event was held from August 30 until September 1.

The event, which was co-hosted by Golden Bridge South Africa, was also attended by the Consulate-General of Botswana – as well as a delegation from the embassy of Angola. According to the general manager of the Golden Bridge South Africa expo, Steve Zhang, 5000 patrons are expected to attend the international industrial expo. Zhang spoke on August 30:

“This is only the first day: Until now, according to the data from the registration desk – we already received 600 visitors,” said Zhang. “I think the BRICS has welcomed all the African countries’ brothers to join. They also think the exhibition is a very good platform, and [they] invited us to Western Africa to explore the West Africa markets.”

According to Zhou, the intent behind the international industrial expo was to advance the economic landscape for the South African and Chinese economies through the sharing of opportunities – hailing the expo as a strategic alliance resulting in the BRICS summit.

“Let’s carry forward the spirit of unity which brought us here today,” Zhang said. “Together, we will script a success story for generations to come.”

BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The BRICS Business Council’s (BBC) chairperson of skills development Mapule Ncanywa was one of the delegates present at the inaugural SAIIE event. According to Ncanywa, the BRICS Business Council’s role has been to improve trade relations and investment opportunities between South Africa and the BRICS nations; ensuring that the exhibiting South African manufacturing companies also have the component of skills to see our local industrial sectors benefit from the relationships between South Africa and China as a partner country.

“We want to see the same hype, the same exhibition that you see happen in the Chinese environment by our own people,” Ncanywa said. “We should make sure that we teach our young people to prepare them so that, when we go across, they know what is expected – and how they should pitch and present their products for the benefit of our economy as part of the BRICS bloc.”

Travel opportunities between China and South Africa are in abundance for local traders from both ends of the spectrum. HTQS Seven Colours’s exhibitor Abby Liu hailed the event as a great opportunity to network with South Africans in Sandton.

“[This expo] has been an opportunity to discover more customers, and to make our brand more popular in South Africa,” Liu said.

Vox Pops: How has the SAIIExpo enhanced opportunities for your industrial brand?

Related article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/331140/students-enjoy-first-career-expo/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/328098/high-school-expo-held-in-byandale-primary/