Washington, DC — Textile, agricultural produce, IT and freight forwarding companies are among the major exhibitors at the Second AGOA Forum that opens in Mauritius on January 13, 2003. The number of companies requesting space in the trade exhibition is so great that the organizers had to arrange for three separate venues to accommodate them, says Didier de Senneville, a spokesman for Conferences and Speakers International Ltd., the company which is coordinating the trade exhibition.
Speaking by telephone from Port-Louis, de Senneville said that more than 30 companies from Mauritius have registered to participate in the trade show. In total, there are companies from 25 countries participating. Major U.S. companies, including Boeing, Microsoft and Kodak have also registered.
The trade exhibit is open from 2:00pm to 6:30pm on January 14,15 and 16, 2003.
Could you tell us how preparations are going for the trade exhibition that will run during the AGOA conference?
We have more than 180 stands. The venues in Mauritius are fairly small, so we are exhibiting in three different pavilions. We have got exhibitors coming from about 25 countries, including USA and Mauritius. We believe this is a good performance, since there are 36 eligible countries in Africa.
One of the main countries exhibiting is Mauritius. There is also a COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) village, with twelve of their countries. We've got a big delegation coming from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia.
What is the main purpose of the exhibit?
It is a professional show, so it is open only for business people. We have two aims: one is to develop business between the U.S. and Africa and the second aim is to develop trade and investment within Africa.
What are the main products being shown?
Textile and apparel, this is one of the main sectors. The second sector is agribusiness, agri-products, fresh products. Like fresh vegetables, fresh flowers. Then IT and services are very much part of the exhibition. Logistics and transport is also very much part of the exhibition.
We've got very, very big names exhibiting like Boeing, Mersk, Kodak, Coca Cola. We've got Jean Raymond Boule, one of the main people involved in the mineral business in Africa. We've got all the forwarders and logistics people.
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How significant is this exhibit for businesses based in Mauritius?
Mauritius is positioning itself as being one of the hubs of Africa. The textile and apparel hub, and definitely this exhibition is the first time ever that we are going to have a concentration of so many manufactures from the continent and so many American buyers present. So I suppose we are very pleased to succeed in that way.
Mauritius is also gearing itself to becoming an IT hub. Microsoft is one of our main sponsors. We've got quite a few IT people here in Mauritius. IBL Informatics, which is a Mauritian company representing different IT software and hardware products and State Informatics. Then we have got BPML, which is Business Parks of Mauritius Limited, the IT village being built now.
How many exhibitors do you have from Mauritius and from the United States?
From Mauritius there must be about 30. From the U.S. it must be about 12.
