JOHANNESBURG – The China Homelife and Machinex Trade Fair and the South Africa-China Trade and Investment Promotion Conference opened at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Tuesday, 23 September. The fair, which runs until Thursday, 25 September is the largest exhibition of Chinese producers in South Africa.
China Homelife South Africa, which is now in its ninth year, features a variety of Chinese products including an impressive 500 verified Chinese exhibitors presenting more than 10,000 high-quality products across multiple sectors, including Building Materials, Appliances and Electronics, Household Goods and Gifts, Machinery, Textiles and Apparel as well as Décor and Furniture. It connects Chinese manufacturers with African importers, wholesalers, and business leaders. There are many benefits to attending the show including it being a great opportunity to find out about the latest, qualified, cost-effective products directly from Chinese manufactures.
At the opening ceremony were various dignitaries including Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Zuko Godlimpi, Sello Enoch Dada Morero, the Executive Mayor in the City of Johannesburg and Ambassador of China to South Africa, Wu Peng.
China is South Africa’s largest trading partner, and speaking at the conference, Godlimpi stated that South Africa’s strategic trade and investment partnership with China has played a major role in South Africa’s economic growth, job creation, and overall development.
The conference also highlighted that South Africa is a well-positioned springboard into the African continent.
A highlight of this year’s China Homelife Trade Fair was the launch of the inaugural Ubuntu Smart Cities Conference, which ran from 23 to 24 September. A Smart City uses digital technology and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve urban infrastructure, services, and people’s quality of life by efficiently managing resources and solving urban challenges like traffic congestion, waste management, sanitation and governance issues.
With the theme: Building Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities Through Innovation, objectives of the Ubuntu Smart Cities Conference were to promote funding and investment, enhance capacity building and skills development, facilitate access to cutting-edge knowledge and expertise, expose businesses to new markets, and build networks that directly address the pressing challenges facing African cities.
The conference featured various speakers presenting on a wide range of topics including Former Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu speaking on Smart City Opportunities for Small Businesses as Drivers to Socio-Economic Development.
Mapule Ncanywa, the Chairperson of the BRICS Skills Working Group provided a perspective on BRICS+ Skills Development Working Group’s Efforts to Support Smart Cities and Coley Zephenia, the Smart City Task Team Convener for the South Africa BRICS Business Council Manufacturing Working Group (SABBC MWG) highlighted A BRICS+ Perspective on Building Smart Cities for Sustainable Development. Tebogo Matlou, the Project Manager for International Programmes and Partnerships at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) spoke on the critical importance of Smart Cities in enabling the Sustainable Development Goals and Dr George Tsibani of the University of Johannesburg presented on the Impact of Smart Cities on Service Delivery.
The critical need of skills development, serious funding and investment, good governance and political will in driving the Smart City agenda was also strongly underlined.
The conference highlighted that while technologies such as AI and other innovations are important in building Smart Cities, it is also critical that they promote humanity, dignity and collective well-being and that they are inclusive, resilient, sustainable and liveable.
In closing, the importance of the Ubuntu Smart Cities Conference bringing on decisive, sustained implementation, and not just ideas and conversation, in developing Smart Cities was also highly emphasised.
The turnout on the first day of China Homelife South Africa was good and visitors no doubt enjoyed the wide variety of Chinese products being showcased.
