Strengthen bilateral cooperation

Reporter： AAXO represents 8 0 % of t he ex h ibit ion organising community in South Africa. Please introduce the development of local exhibition industry and your suggestions for exhibitors.

Weaving： Every year， there are about 180 large exhibitions held by about 30 organizers throughout South Africa， including Reed Exhibitions， Informa， Messe Munich and Messe Frankfurt. South Africa is a springboard to other markets in Africa， so Chinese exhibitors can first participate in exhibitions in South Africa.

To this day， China has been South Africa’s largest trade partner for 8 consecutive years. At present， as the middle class population in South Africa is increasing rapidly， many industries contain business opportunities for Chinese exhibitors， including agriculture， services， consumer goods， food and beverage， minerals， oil and gas， and so on. However， it must be mentioned that in Africa， the relationship between people is still one of the important factors to promote business transactions.

For Chinese organizers， I suggest that they should first look for local partners. With our expertise of local market and the understanding for the Chinese organizers’ demands， AAXO is happy to provide navigation assistance and recommend quality service providers for Chinese enterprises.

Reporter： What can be done to strengthen cooperation between China and South Africa in the convention and exhibition industry？

Weaving： I think we can first strengthen bilateral cooperation between the exhibition industry associations of Chinese and South Africa. For example， AAXO can put forward suggestions to China organisers to achieve betterexhibiting effect. We would also like deeper cooperation with exhibition media.