MAPKZN held its first Business Fair event on the 20th June 2019, hosted by the “City of uMhlathuze” civic center. The engagements of the day were aimed to facilitate intra- Africa trade relations between the Maputo and KZN regions, through the newly developed corridor linking Mozambique and South Africa through Maputo and KZN. The event saw entities from Maputo, KZN and as far as Gauteng, attending and participating in the Fair.

The event exceeded expectations as the attendees were left intrigued about MAPKZN and all future activities, as they expressed a great interest in participating in the new corridor in exports, imports and tourism.

Attendants of the event ranged from banks, industries, tourism entities, small to large suppliers to government institutes. The initially anticipated numbers were 130 businesses and individuals, the outcome turn out surpassed the anticipated numbers by 20, the attendees were treated to tea halfway through the event and at the end served a delicious lunch which was sponsored by the RBIDZ.

In conclusion the 2019 Business Fair was a great success considering it was our first, the level of attendees that attended the event was quiet diverse, and saw the youth being highly represented on the day. Before the event started we issued out “Feedback Forms” which were issued to all guests, at the end of the event when we reflected on the feedback gathered from the Fair, comments from guests praised the informative presentations presented at the fair and a lot of sentiment in the interest of being affiliated with MAPKZN and future trade activities. On the closing of the event MAPKZN and partners Media Vital announced that a second leg of the event will be held in Maputo where we would invite KZN businesses to join us in Maputo. This event will be held in 2019 and a date will be communicated in the new future.