The Second Africa-Asia Business Forum (AABF II) was held at the International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, between July 8 and 14, 2001. Like the inaugural forum, AABF II brought together African and Asian business executives to negotiate business deals by forming strategic alliances and smart partnerships. AABF II featured the following key activities:

• Official Opening presided over by the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Dr Jacob Zuma, and senior UNDP officials
• Over 1500 individual negotiation meetings between pre-matched Corporate Heads and Senior Executives from 6 Asian countries and 17 African countries
• Meetings with officials of African countries promoting privatisation and foreign direct investment in Africa
• Networking opportunities to meet Executives and Entrepreneurs from other companies
• Forum Exhibition
• Sponsored Social events including a Gala Night sponsored by the Government of South Africa, dinner sponsored by the Malaysian Delegation, and cocktails sponsored by UNDP
• Seminars on specific aspects supporting inter-corporate linkages including Africa's potential as a base for export-oriented production, comparative investment incentives and taxation regimes in Africa, investment in South Africa and sourcing finance for AABFII deals
• Business linkage support services including financial and legal advisers, translators and interpreters
• Distribution of AABFII Souvenir Book
• MOU signing and reporting ceremony at the conclusion of the Event.

Attendance Statistics:

A total of 340 delegates attended the Forum events including:

• 214 senior business executives and entrepreneurs from 17 African countries and 6 Asian nations (including Hong Kong which is part of China)
• 1 Asian financial institution
• 22 representatives of 12 National Focal Points (NFPs)
• 31 Exhibitors representing 23 Agencies
• 6 representatives of Investment Promotion Agencies (not counting NFPs)
• 10 Government officials
• 19 United Nations Agency representatives (non-expert)
• 24 Experts
• 8 representatives of the Diplomatic community

Of the business delegates, 143 persons represented 121 African businesses, while 71 Asians represented 60 Asian companies.

On the Asian side, there were 119 sponsored Asian businesses representing 6 countries (South Korea, China, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Singapore). At least 3 of the sponsored Asian companies brought along an additional 7 representatives.

Special Events:

A workshop organised by UNCTAD on "Needs assessment to attract Asian FDI in African Development: How to make it work” was held concurrently with the Forum and attracted an additional 21 participants.

The business delegates used the meeting to form new strategic business relationships. An important outcome of the Forum was the enhanced understanding by participants of business conditions, investment and trade opportunities within the participating countries; more so highlighting the potential and promise that Africa holds for companies from Asia and Africa willing to explore business opportunities there. The emphasis was on generating Asia-Africa linkages but Intra-African networking and deals were also facilitated.

Trade Agreements:

At the closing session, 104 trade agreements or Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were announced of which 97 were formally documented and later analysed. These included 73 Africa-Asia deals and 24 Africa-Africa deals. 38% of the deals were purely investment related, 39% were purely trade related, 14% incorporated both trade and technology transfer, 2% incorporate trade investment and technology transfer arrangements, while 1% were purely technology transfer related. 4% of the deals were not specific.

The MOUs covered a wide range of sectorial activities including IT (15.5%), Training (14.4%), textiles (9.3%), building materials, (7.2%) , machinery(6.2%), electrical goods (6.2%), food (4.1%), energy (4.1%), printing (4.1%), telecommunication (4.1%), paper products (3.1%), consulting services (3.1%) and pharmaceuticals (2.1%). 14 other sectors were represented.

The evaluation feedback questionnaire revealed a high level of satisfaction among participating respondents with most of them saying they would like the Forum to continue, with a preferred frequency varying from once every six months to once every 3 years. Many indicated that they would like to participate even if no subsidy was provided and some indicated a willingness to pay a participation fee with a mean acceptable fee of USD 158 being cited. A number of African respondents also indicated a need for more Intra-African matching.

Sponsorship Funding for AABF II was provided by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of South Africa through Trade and Investment South Africa (TISA). The Forum is organised by the Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (SU-TCDC) in UNDP in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC), United National Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Promote Africa. The estimated cost of the project from donor funds was USD 2.188 million comprising:-

• USD 1.5 million from the Government of Japan (Japan Human Resource Development Fund),
• USD 0.4 million from SU/TCDC Core Funds,
• USD 0.1 million from the Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA),
• USD 0.088 million from the Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific (RBAP) and,
• USD 0.1 million from the Government of South Africa.

In addition, participants paid for their own return air fares to both the preparatory workshops and the Main Forum, as well as for the cost of preparation of company materials for the main Forum, an amount estimated to be USD 2.7 million, bringing the total expenditure on the program to USD 4.888 million.

For more information about the AABF II, please refer to the AABF II website www.aabfonline.org