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Mr
Joubert pointed out that there were one
million people in South Africa with an income
of ZAR8 billion (US$733 million) who rely
on this industry, which has a "huge
European focus".
"South
Africa's goal now is to show what we can
be trusted to do and what we are best at:
to export healthy food at an affordable
price," said Mr Joubert.
"Some
3,000 orchards were voluntarily withdrawn
by the growers; the second step was spraying
and orchard sanitation; additionally, we
are pre-screening all arrivals before inspection
to mitigate the risk of further CBS [citrus
black spot fungal disease interceptions,"
he said.
Mr
Joubert also stated communication and information
are always the solution to most problems,
"so we have tried to find out exactly
what was going on, on both sides, and to
communicate what we know to fill any information
gaps".
Khaled
Fawzy, CEO of Egypt's Trimar Forwarding,
said that of the fruit and vegetable exports,
oranges remain the most important for the
politically troubled Egyptian economy.
"Egypt
is the world's sixth largest producer and
second largest exporter, shipping about
half of its production. Grapes, onions and
potatoes are also quite relevant,"
he said.
"The
most noteworthy aspect in terms of markets
is that "due to The Russian ban, Egypt's
export volumes to this destination are expected
to grow significantly in the short term,"
Mr Fawzy said,
He
assured delegates that there was also much
room for improvement in the country's infrastructure,
including roads and railways, and much money
is going towards the expansion of the country's
storage facilities.
"Egypt
is a bit of a work in progress, but within
two to three years it will be a lot more
reliable," he said.
Marc
Rooms, of Lancaster/Daforco, a company that
ships frozen goods to Africa, said that
"while the rest of the world tries
to go to the moon, we still try to get to
the next village in Africa."
Mr
Rooms said African countries need to promote
industrial development to spur economic
progress and reduce poverty. "
While
15 per cent of the world's population live
in Africa, only one per cent of the global
manufacturing takes place there, which is
mostly due to poor transport, communication
and energy infrastructure," he said.
With
rare exception, South Africa is the only
large, all-season perishable product exporter.
"There is a large domestic market,
so I believe that East and West Africa would
rather remain import-focused, mainly for
vegetables, such as onions and potatoes,"
Mr Rooms said.
He
said Africa is often not politically stable
and has cumbersome trade regulations. Congestion
in some ports is also a problem, "and
last, but not least, diseases can put a
stop to everything".
Mr
Rooms paused to wonders whether Africa could
become the next China. "It has low
labour costs and plenty of resources. With
additional demand for commodities, new industries
are developing, and this is positive for
container carriers, as more inbound and
outbound cargo entails a beneficial two-way
flow."
According
to Mr Rooms, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya also
represent a great opportunity for agricultural
produce, with a vast labour force.
"They
have the necessary water supply and a good
fertile soil. They are also close to the
Middle East; an area of great demand,"
he said, adding that there are plenty of
opportunities for outsourcing, mostly in
Kenya and South Africa.
"Lands
which share Europe's time zone, have decent
IT structures, connectivity and political
stability. How far will outsourcing go?
We don't know, but it has already drastically
changed our way of doing business,"
he said.
Given
the problems the reefer sector faces, its
delicate time lines, handling high risk,
needy cargo, it is easy to see how greater
cooperation among rivals became a major
theme at last month's Cool Logistics Global
2014 convention in Rotterdam.
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