The French pavilion, which the French Trade Commission in South Africa organises at Electra Mining Africa, has grown significantly since it was first held in 2010.

The pavilion hosted 13 companies in 2010, 23 in 2012 and will this year feature 25 exhibitors showcasing their products and services.

“The French pavilion will once more show the variety and the quality of the French offer in terms of mining equipment and engineering,” says senior trade adviser Romain Da Costa.

France has a strong mining tradition, although all extractive activities in the country stopped about half-a-century ago. French companies that were involved in the industry are now investing in research and development to offer equipment and services to the global industry.

Da Costa says French companies are upbeat about opportunities in South Africa, with an increasing number of companies teaming up with local businesses. “South Africa has a growing, strong and stable economy that allows French and South African companies to work together.”

Commenting on the success of previous years’ French pavilions at Electra Mining Africa, Da Costa says a number of companies have since opened a subsidiary in South Africa or have found a local distributor.

“We value partnerships with local companies in order to reach win-win relationships. French companies are fully aware of South Africa’s challenges and social and economic development in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ is important to all of us,” he says.

There are about 245 subsidiaries of French companies in South Africa, employing more than 300 000 people in 2013. Ubifrance, the agency for international business development and its office in Johannesburg, helped about 300 companies to visit South Africa to conduct market studies or to find future partners last year.

In 2012, bilateral trade between France and South Africa reached €2.7-billion. France exported €1.88-million worth of products to South Africa. South Africa exported €838-million worth of products to France in the same year. France is South Africa’s third-largest European partner after Germany and the UK.

Hall 8 Stand C6