The third Africa-Asia Business Forum (AABF III) will be held in Dakar, Senegal, from 12 to 14 January, 2004. The purpose of AABF III is to promote business linkages between African and Asian firms leading towards more trade, transfer of technology and capital flows between the regions.

The key success factor for achieving satisfactory and sustainable partnerships and joint ventures between African and Asian businesses is in identifying viable firms and ensuring that they are appropriately matched with their counterparts. In AABF III, this procedure will be based on an electronic platform that can manage information, coordinate and track contacts between businesses. The firms will be able to agree on a framework for partnership before the Forum (also known as Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)) so that when they meet at the Forum, they are able to proceed with the development of their joint operational plans as well as formalize the signing of their agreements.