French-SA bilateral trade campaign launches

"J'adore South Africa is designed to increase the awareness of France, its businesses and culture in the South African and African marketplace through a concerted marketing communications programme. It also provides an ideal launch pad for South African companies wanting to branch out, obtain awareness, create opportunities for business growth and exchanges, and build alliances with French companies," explains Philippe Pellegrin, Chairman of the French South African Chamber of Commerce (FSACCI).

"French support and commitment to South Africa is and has always been unquestionable. We believe that South Africa is the business gateway to Africa. The French government therefore strongly supports this initiative by providing financial support for this campaign."

The J'adore South Africa communications campaign starts in January 2005 with regular business talks with representatives from sponsor companies on Classic FM and Kaya FM; 12 months of publicity; and five major corporate events throughout the year.

Offering a ten-to-one return on investment for sponsors, the J'adore South Africa campaign will include a corporate golf day, which will be followed by an attention-grabbing design competition for students culminating in a prize-giving event. The challenge posed to 18 to 30 year old design students in South Africa, is to illustrate the unique business relationship between France and South Africa in a 30 second to three minute advert, short documentary or multimedia presentation. Additional items on the event schedule will include further networking events such as a classic music and a wine-tasting challenge, and a French Film private soiree. Then, the Elle Paris Fashion show, an associated event on the J'adore South Africa calendar, takes place in June and is set to entertain local and international fashion-enthusiasts.

France and South Africa have strong relations in the areas of trade and industry, science and technology, arts and culture. The volume of French-South African exchanges has shown a steady growth since the early 1990's and the performance of French business in South Africa has shown clear progress over the past decade. South Africa is the leading outlet for French companies in sub-Saharan Africa.