SMME Export Development and Promotion

Botswana's foreign trade has always experienced a deficit with an increase in demand every year for foreign goods for national development as well as for consumption and with a static trend in export growth. LEA considers export promotion as one of the key initiatives and strategies to reduce the volume of trade deficit between Botswana and its trading partners. LEA is committed to taking all such measures to support the SMME sector in its effort to develop and promote export of various products and services from Botswana. The organization has developed an Export Promotion Programme which is intended to guide the delivery of its SMME export promotion interventions.

The Export Promotion Programme is intended to achieve the following objectives:

1. Facilitate penetration of SMME products and services into the global markets
2. Facilitate international Business Linkages

Components of the Export Promotion Programme

The LEA Export Promotion Programme, which is in line with the Small Business Act (2004), is two fold, the international business linkages and export promotion. The international business linkages programme outlines target international linkage areas that LEA could forge in pursuit of facilitating exports. Export promotion on the other hand entails issues of export marketing, trade and investment missions, participation in international fairs and expositions, trade agreements, training and seminars and export market information dissemination and search tools.

LEA's Export Promotion Services

LEA's export promotion services will focus on the following:

• Facilitating international market access and penetration of SMME goods and services through their participation in Contact Promotion Programmes, Trade Fairs and Exhibitions, Trade Missions, Buyer-Seller meetings and Conferences and Group-Marketing Schemes for the SMMEs.
• Facilitating export marketing of SMMEs through display of their products in Botswana Permanent Missions and External Trade Offices.
• Organizing sub-contracting production/supply schemes; establishment of Export Production Village Schemes, technical advisory services to facilitate product and market development as well as supply chain management.
• Operating Export Training Programme that delivers short term product development, market development and specialized trade development courses for export companies, trade facilitating agencies and businesses to upgrade their skill in export marketing.
• Organizing workshops, forums, conferences, and seminars for both facilitators of export services and the exporting companies.
• Identifying products with export potential and adapt them for the export market.
• Guiding local enterprises to prepare export marketing plans tailor made to their respective operations
• Facilitating participation of SMMEs at international trade fairs and expositions;
• Undertaking Trade Missions;
• Undertaking external market intelligence;
• Undertake advocacy services for bodies involved in exports;
• Advocating for the review of Policies and Legislation impacting negatively on export facilitation;
• Disseminating export market information