Johannesburg, Wednesday 11 September 2013 – Brand South Africa will fly the South African flag at the World Economic Forum’s Summer Davos or Annual Meeting of the Champions in Dalian,Peoples Republic of China from 11-13 September 2013.
The high powered South African delegation to the Summer Davos will use the opportunity to network with government leaders, business representatives, and civil society to profile and position South Africa as a competitive, developed economy that offers investors good returns on investment and other benefits.
The New Champions meeting follows the World Economic Forum’s announcement of its 2013 Global Competitive Index which revealed that South Africa has improved on four of the 12 pillars of competitiveness, namely: Institutions, Goods & market efficiency, Business Sophistication and Innovation.
South Africa has also made steady progress on the Innovation pillar, improving by three positions to 39 this year. This must be harnessed to drive the National Development Plan as South Africa’s blueprint for economic and social development by 2030.
Brand South Africa CEO Miller Matola commented on this saying, “Economists recognise that innovation is a product of entrepreneurial activity and injects dynamism into an economy. This reflects very positively on the South African economy and opportunities for growth. It is also the factor that has been shown to drive social and economic development in other developing countries. South Africa open for business and we invite investors to look at what we have to offer.”
Meanwhile, South Africa retained its position on three pillars: financial market development, technological readiness and market size.
South Africa will be represented at the Summer Davos by:
| Name | Designation | Organisation |
| Miller Matola | Chief Executive Officer | Brand South Africa |
| Paul Scott Matthew | Director | Africa North Star Alliance |
| Imrhan Paruk | Executive, Corporate Development | African Rainbow Minerals Ltd (ARM) |
| Patrice T. Motsepe | Founder and Executive Chairman | African Rainbow Minerals Ltd (ARM) |
| Anne Githuku-Shongwe | Founder and Chief Executive Officer | Afroes Transformational Games |
| Bronwyn Nielsen | Senior Anchor and Executive Director | CNBC Africa |
| Tsholofelo B.L. Molefe | Group Executive, Group Customer Service | Eskom Holdings SOC Limited |
| Steve J. Lennon | Group Executive, Sustainability | Eskom Holdings SOC Limited |
| Zola Tsotsi | Chairman | Eskom Holdings SOC Limited |
| Martyn Davies | Chief Executive Officer | Frontier Advisory Pty Ltd |
| Monhla Wilma Hlahla | Chairman of the Board | Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd (IDC) |
| Lynette Ntuli | Founder and Chief Executive (Pty) Ltd | Innate Investment Solutions |
| Jayendra Naidoo (Jay) | Executive Chairman | J&J Group |
| Avril Halstead | Chief Director, Sectoral Oversight | National treasury of South Africa |
| Ellis Mnyandu | Editor: Business Report | Sekunjalo Independent Media |
| Iqbal Survé | Executive Chairman | Sekunjalo Investments Ltd South Africa |
| Patrick Schofield | Founder | The Indalo Project |
| Bruce Hart | Head, China Africa Business Development | The Standard Bank Group Limited |
| Kuseni Dlamini | Chairman | Times Media Group Limited |
| Lungisa Matshoba | Founding Chief Technology Officer | YOCO |
About Brand South Africa
Brand South Africa is the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, in order to improve its global competitiveness abroad. Its aim is also to build pride and patriotism among South Africans, in order to contribute to social cohesion and nation brand ambassadorship.
Further resources from Brand South Africa
Media are invited to visit http://www.southafrica.info/ for further resources which can be reproduced without any copyright infringement. Kindly attribute to Brand South Africa.
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Nadia Samie-Jacobs
Public Relations Domestic
Tel: +27 11 712 5007 Mobile: +27 (0)72 777 9399
Email: nadias@brandsouthafrica.com
Visit brandsouthafrica.com
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