Local events management company Thebe Exhibitions & Projects will, this year, host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) Trade and Investment Exchange, a trade fair dedicated to promoting intra-Brics trade by highlighting business opportunities.

The event, scheduled to take place from October 16 to 18 at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg, will be comanaged by Thebe Exhibitions and foreign market advisory firm Khumo Group Consulting, in collaboration with Business Unity South Africa.

Senior project manager Lydia Botha says the aim of the Brics Trade and Investment Exchange is to highlight new business opportunities within and between the Brics nations and to provide a platform for companies, government institutions and business associations from all of the Brics nations to draw attention to and showcase key investment and trade opportunities.

The three-day business-to-business trade fair and networking platform will include workshops on key investment opportunities, as well as a hosted buyer’s programme, site visits and business matchmaking events to further increase networking opportunities.

“As the newest member of Brics and a facilitator of trade on the continent, South Africa is the ideal country to conceptualise and execute this event. This is a focused trade fair and networking event that will go a long way in promoting trade, as well as increasing direct foreign investment in South Africa and the African continent,” says Khumo Group CEO Ipeleng Selele.

Further, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), which hosted the fifth Brics Summit in March at the Durban International Convention Centre, has officially endorsement the Brics Trade and Investment Exchange, recognising the critical role of Brics members in the development of Africa.

“The Brics Trade and Investment Exchange supports the political, economic and development goals and imperatives among the Brics nations, representing the best business platforms for all of the Brics nations to showcase key trade and investment opportunities,” says Dirco deputy director-general Clayson Monyela.

Event exhibitors will include companies from a broad range of sectors within the Brics nations, including – but not limited to – trans- port, construction, manufacturing, minerals, energy, petroleum, agriculture, retail, automotive, information and communications technology, telecommunications, textiles and pharmaceuticals.

Exhibitors will have the opportunity to meet targeted local and international visitors with a vested interest in trading with the Brics nations, thereby developing lucrative business connections while gaining an early foothold in a burgeoning market.
The Brics Trade Exchange provides exposure that will enable these exhibitors to network with local and international industry players, influential decision-makers and senior executives in the trade and investment sector.

Moreover, high-level speakers will disseminate valuable information during the workshops, which will run simultaneously with the exhibition.

“The potential for growing trade and invest- ment, as well as intra-African trade and invest- ment, must be further enhanced,” says Selele, adding that South Africa will use its chairpersonship of the 2013 Brics Summit to vigorously pursue support for these goals.