Global Expo Botswana set for busy four days
This Wednesday sees the return of the Global Expo Botswana (GEB), with organisers hoping to facilitate 500 business-to-business meetings as well as raising around P30 million from the four-day event.
The revenue will be generated through investment deals, local spending and sales over the course of the expo, which turns 17 this year and continues through to Saturday.
As an exciting extra addition, the latest edition will include the first ever European Unio -Botswana Business Forum (EBBF), a two-day spectacle to run from 11 – 12 October.
Briefing the media last week, Minister of Trade and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela revealed this year’s theme ‘AfCFTA as a Springboard for Improved Intra-Africa Trade’ is in line with the African Union’s resolution, declaring 2023 as the year of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“The whole essence of the expo is to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Botswana, which is done through foreign companies exhibiting at the Global Expo Botswana, as well as to promote goods and services produced in Botswana to the international markets,” explained Kgafela, adding they are targeting 500 delegates, 300 companies for exhibition and an estimated of 4, 000 visitors.
For her part, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Ellen Richard-Madisa said through Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), who manage the expo, the Ministry continues to facilitate opportunities for Batswana.
“It is through events like the Global Expo Botswana and the EU-Botswana Business Forum that Batswana get to network and foster relations with counterparts from other jurisdictions as they seek partners, investors and markets for their products,” she said.