STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER,

 

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

 

AT THE OFFICIAL CLOSING OF THE SWAZILAND INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR 2014

 

AT MAVUSO TRADE CENTRE, MANZINI

 

FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2014

 

Honourable Ministers

Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps;

Governor of the Central Bank of Swaziland

Regional Administrator

Mayor of Manzini;

Exhibitors and Sponsors of the Swaziland International Trade Fair

Management Committee of the Swaziland International Trade Fair

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

 

It is a great pleasure to have the honour, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, of performing the official closing of this year’s Swaziland International Trade Fair.

 

It has again been an excellent event. The quality of the stands has been quite exceptional and, in the circumstances, the task of the judges in selecting the best stand is not an enviable one. My first very pleasant duty is therefore to congratulate and thank all the exhibitors for their energy, style and stamina. And secondly I wish to also express our appreciation to all the service providers who collectively made this huge event so attractive and effective.

 

I believe the commitment shown by all who have featured in this annual event is a clear indication of how seriously we are taking the issue of trade and public service. And, by “trade”, I mean increased trade, for it is from higher output and increased private sector profits that will come the national resources needed for meeting the challenging economic growth targets that we have set ourselves over the coming years.

 

I have also to make special mention of the very welcome participation of the foreign exhibitors and visitors. We have seen representation from a number of countries on the African continent – especially from the SADC member states, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania. Promoting their goods and services, together with the other side of the coin, namely seeing what Swaziland has on display, is a collaboration that we much appreciate.   We trust that our visitors found the facilities to their satisfaction and we thank them for attending and participating at our Trade Fair. We shall now be very happy if they go back to their respective countries fully charged to disseminate to their fellow countrymen all that they have seen here.

 

And we also extend a special “thank you” for the continued participation in our International Trade Fair by the representatives of Taiwan and Indonesia, two of the big players on the world business stage. At the same time I would ask our own private sector to look vigorously in the direction of foreign exhibitions, not only to showcase Swazi goods and services but also to gain and share valuable information.

 

We talk frequently about our new Investor Road Map. And for one very good reason – it is extremely important to Swaziland that our business environment is ratcheted up to a standard that makes it second to none. I ask our overseas business visitors to please not be dismayed by the sound of that unequivocal statement of intent. It is in no way an unfriendly gesture, merely a reflection of what is demanded in the real world. On the continent of Africa we collaborate extensively within our various unions and associations. But we also compete for trade and investment and we all recognize the value of a truly business-friendly environment.

 

And let us not forget that attracting more foreign direct investment is not the only route to faster economic growth. It is certainly important for the skills, capital, job creation and access to the global market that it brings. But domestic expansion, especially at small, medium and micro-scale enterprise level is equally important.

 

Our national slogan or brand is “Swaziland: Africa’s New Promise,” and we are very serious about it. Indeed, by recently creating and staffing the new dedicated Investor Roadmap Unit we have now attached the commercial equivalent of a turbo-charger to our programme to improve the business environment of Swaziland.  

 

We have had, at this Trade Fair, no fewer than 187 exhibitors from both the public and private sectors. That is a very satisfying number. Given the high standard of presentations, seminars and workshops it is a little unfair to single out any for attention. But I do hope that the exhibition stands of Government Ministries and other public sector agencies have sent out the clear signal of our determination to make our public sector one that is clearly accelerating the speed in handling issues related to business, as well as delivering a high standard of public services, across the board and to the entire population.

 

And I repeat the appeal to our many private sector representatives, who have exhibited here, to work closely with the staff of our new IRM Unit who will be consulting across a wide spectrum. Our “Promise” is to the people of Swaziland and the world - that our country is peaceful, safe and open to business, offering a quality infrastructure and a skilled workforce. We trust that the “promise” is reciprocated by the private sector in terms of commitment, productivity, competitiveness and, of course, compliance in respect of taxes and duties.

 

Productivity in our work, and competitiveness in the domestic and foreign markets, demand our adherence to international best practice in terms of quality and consistency. Whether aiming for import substitution, especially in provision of basic commodities, or for acceptance in the global supply chain there is no getting away from the need to achieve a high quality in our goods and services. No producer – whether in handcraft or downstream sugar products – can assume an automatic right to a sale. Except for the very scarcest of products the global market is invariably a buyer’s market and only by achieving excellence in the quality of our products can we tip the balance of the scales in our own direction.

 

The Mavuso Trade and Exhibition Centre is one of the finest new pieces of infrastructure that we have constructed in recent years. It has been good to see it well occupied over the past week and we do encourage our private sector to take the initiative and look to holding its own exhibitions and trade fairs at this excellent facility.  It was clear, from the amount of time last Saturday that His Majesty gave to touring the exhibition stands, just how important he feels this form of business communication is in the continuum of economic development. We thank His Majesty most sincerely for giving so much time to the Trade Fair in his very busy diary.

 

Today we are awarding certificates and trophies of excellence to those who have done well within different categories at this year’s Trade Fair. I do extend my warmest congratulations to those who have emerged winners from what is an extremely respectable group of runners-up.

 

Finally, may I thank all our sponsors for providing the necessary funding for the Swaziland International Trade Fair, 2014. I do hope that generous and well-invested support can also be extended to future years.

 

It is now my honour on behalf of His Majesty’s Government to declare the 2014 Swaziland International Trade Fair officially closed.

 

Thank you.