They’ll be watching us!

The World Cup period will also be an opportunity for the SA sporting goods industry to show the world what we’re capable of. Apart from football teams and heads of state, executives from many of the most prestigious companies in the world will be coming to see what SA has to offer.

For example, people on the Time 100 and Fortune 500 lists will be in Cape Town at the end of June to listen to speakers like former presidents Bill Clinton and Jacques Chirac, president Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China and media boss Rupert Murdoch who’ll be addressing the New Global Opportunity Conference, hosted by the powerful Time Warner group. Executives from some of the world’s top brands will also be coming to see the South African market for themselves – If you would like Sports Trader to interview any of your principals coming to SA, please contact Trudi du Toit (trudi@sportstrader.co.za) or Tel: 021 461 2544. This move to see the SA market first hand already started when Hi-Tec executives from across the world flew to Cape Town (volcanic ash permitting) for their global sales conference in Cape Town last month (CEO Frank van Wezel pictured here). Alan Hed, New Balance executive vice president, International, who’ll be here in June, should be a familiar figure to many in the industry as he worked in SA for 3 years as GM of Levi Strauss & Co at the beginning of the century.