South Africa's international trading activities received a significant shot in the arm as a result of the foreign-based buyer interest in Securex 2001, the country's international security, protection and safety trade exhibition.
"International visitor interest reached a record high this year," said Reed Exhibitions' General Manager Tom McCafferty. "A total of 163 buyers from 31 countries visited the show, which is about twice as many as were recorded in previous years."
Included in the list of nations were: Angola, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, China, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Israel, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Tanzania, USA, UAR, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This increase in international interest was welcomed by exhibitors, many of whom were specifically seeking to expand their operations into sub-Saharan and other markets: as Allan Antonich of Philips Communication, Security & Imaging SA said, "We met a lot of decision makers, including visitors from Kenya and Tanzania. This ties in well with our development plans for the rest of Africa, and we will be following up these and other leads in the very near future."
Show statistics indicate that around 5300 visitors attended Securex 2001. Of those who specified their seniority, almost 80% either made (38,4%) or directly influenced (39,3%) their companies' purchasing decisions. Demographics show that most of the visitors were security professionals, but among the other business sectors that were well represented were: building/construction/architecture; electrical engineering/contracting; general industry/manufacturing; mining/minerals extraction; the retail industry and insurance.
Going digital
Digital technology was a feature of Securex this year, which was reflected in the visitors' stipulated areas of interest: most were there to see the latest access control products (17,7%); CCTV installations (11,6%); CCTV monitoring equipment (10,5%); and intruder alarms (9,1%). Other areas of notable interest included: computer security; integrated systems; and alarm receiving centres.
The high proportion of decision makers attracted to Securex 2001 helped exhibitors to achieve significant successes: Colleen Simpson of ADT Security Services said; "If the show had closed at the end of the first day we would have been very happy; by then we had already achieved all we had hoped to at the show."
Paul Wainstein of Elvey International stated, "Once again, we exceeded our show objectives. We invariably see a jump in our turnover as a result of our participation at Securex; the show gives us a chance to demonstrate our expertise. Will we be back in 2002 - absolutely!"
Kevin Lee of Wetech Electronics from Taiwan said, "We secured a number of orders, but we were also able to appoint a South African distributor. So yes, we achieved our objectives. We will exhibit again next year, but it will probably be under the name of our local distributor."
Dean Smith of RBR International SA said, "The show has been great. We have had an excellent response from visitors, especially foreign interest. We have got a lot of new leads - I have got a lot of work on my hands."
Johan Cruywagen of Basix Technologies said, "The quality of visitors has been excellent, and we have a lot of good leads. Interest in our products has come from all around the country and Africa."
David Sullivan of the HID Corporation in the USA said, "This (SA) is a big market for us and Securex gives us a point of entry into the rest of Africa. We'll definitely be back in 2002."
"Exhibitor interest in Securex 2002 is already keen, and a large proportion of this year's participants have already booked their stands for next year," said Project Manager Jacqui Eggart.
Companies wishing to reserve space can contact her at Reed Exhibitions on tel: (011) 886 3734; or on e-mail: [email protected]
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