Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Small-scale units reach out to South Africa

M. Soundariya Preetha

COIMBATORE: Small-scale units here, which till now tapped only the local market, will soon have an opportunity to sell their ware in South Africa, thanks to the efforts of the National Small Industries Corporation.

The Corporation organises a catalogue show in South Africa every year. It displays product and project catalogues of small-scale units here at its office in Johannesburg for three or four days. Entrepreneurs and traders are invited for the show and the Corporation follows up enquiries and helps the Indian units establish direct link with prospective buyers.

South Africa is a potential market with close to 10 lakh Indian population in Durban alone. The products in demand include auto components, pumps for the mining industry, light engineering goods and computers.

Last year, about five units from Coimbatore participated in the show. With more focus on Coimbatore this year, the number has jumped to 35. The show will be held in Durban from November 14 to 17. Catalogues of brick manufacturing machines, printers and automobile components will be displayed, says M. Saravana Kummar, manager of the Corporation here. While about 50 per cent of these are product catalogues, the rest furnish details of projects that can be set up in South Africa.

Of the nearly 50,000 small-scale units in the district, just two to four per cent is into direct exports. Such shows provide an opportunity for more units to sell overseas, says Mr. Kummar.

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