The first Local Southern African Manufacturing Expo (LME) will be staged from 21 to 23 May 2019 at the Expo Centre, Nasrec, Johannesburg.
The South African Capital Equipment Export Council (SACEEC) sees enormous potential for Southern African manufacturers to increase their market share locally and internationally.
Eric Bruggeman, CEO of SACEEC, speaking at the launch of first Local Southern African Manufacturing Expo.
According to Eric Bruggeman, CEO at SACEEC, part of the council's mandate is to organise outward selling and inward buying missions. “We identified a need to showcase the offerings of the SADC region’s local manufacturers in an interactive way. The result is the inaugural Local Southern African Manufacturing Expo taking place in May.”
Portfolio director for Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, Charlene Hefer, says the exhibition is endorsed by the Premier of Gauteng, David Makhura. “We believe it will enable exhibitors to meet with top decision makers from the inward buying missions already committed to the event. As Industry 4.0 continues to transform the way manufacturers do business, LME 2019 will give exhibitors an opportunity to grow their customer base, with the knock-on potential for fostering job creation.”
Bruggeman says, “It is critical for the sustainability of local manufacturing operations that manufacturers aggressively pursue opportunities to increase their market share. This applies to the overseas market and the need to capture market share locally where supply is currently being monopolised by importers. Recent statistics indicate that South Africa currently imports products to the value of a staggering $83,2 billion. If we were able to shift this demand to the local manufacturing sector, we could realistically create 1 329 million jobs.”
LME 2019 will give manufacturers from South Africa and other SADC regions a chance to display their capabilities to a captive audience and it creates a forum for the exhibitors to network with their peers.
Hefer adds, “LME is offering local manufacturing operations an opportunity to evolve and expand by interacting with the inward buying mission representatives. The event is supported by SACEEC, the Association of Representatives for the Electronics Industry (AREI) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). We urge manufacturing companies across Southern Africa to capitalise on the marketing opportunities of exhibiting at LME 2019.”
For more information: visit www.localmanufacturingexpo.co.za
