ˇ@ The Minister of
Trade and Industry (dti), Rob Davies, said the focus on
African innovation at this yearˇ¦s edition of VivaTech
was good for the continent and the country.
The Minister led a
delegation of South African companies to the Viva
Technology Conference and Exhibition (VivaTech), in
France. The exhibition, which started on Thursday, 24
May 2018, was dedicated to innovation and digital
transformation as well as focusing on start-ups.
Minister Davies led the delegation to the Paris
conference that comprised for the first time up to 50
African start-ups from four key sectors gathered in a
dedicated zone with local incubators and accelerators.
The dti, through the Export Marketing and Investment
Assistance Scheme (EMIA), funded a group of start-ups
which exhibited at the VivaTech, showcasing their
products and services within the ICT space.
Two South African start-ups emerged victors at the
summit. The Johannesburg-based artificial intelligence
company, Vizibiliti Insight, won first place in the
Verizon Challenge and has been invited to visit
Verizonˇ¦s headquarters in New York.
Meanwhile, the Cape Town-based Sun Exchange won the AFD
Energy Blockchain Challenge.
Minister Daviesˇ¦ programme in Paris included bilateral
meetings with the Secretary of State to the Minister of
Economy and Finance, Delphine Geny-Stephann, and Jean
Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister of
Europe.
At the meeting with Geny-Stephann, they agreed that
South Africa would host the Joint Economic Commission (JEC)
later this year. The last South Africa-France JEC was
held in France last year and it was co-chaired by
Minister Davies and his French counterpart.
Minister Davies also addressed the French business
confederation, Movement of the Enterprises of France
International (MEDEF), to promote investments. MEDEF
International is the largest organisation of the French
private sector at an international level. Invest SA has
a cooperation agreement with Business France that is
intended to attract and facilitate French investments
into South Africa.
Minister Davies mentioned that business confidence and
investor sentiment were improving and government was
responding to create a dynamic and enabling business
environment and a better South Africa for all.
He mentioned that government was initiating measures to
set the economy on a new path of growth, employment and
transformation. Davies called on French companies to
participate in the Youth Employment Service (YES)
initiative.
ˇ§On 27 March 2018, we launched the Youth Employment
Service initiative, also known as the YES initiative.
The YES initiative aims to see more than one million
youth offered work experience over three years. I would
like to urge all companies with a presence in South
Africa to get involved in the YES Initiative,ˇ¨ he said.
The exhibition concluded on Saturday.
ˇV Source:
SAnews.gov.za |