US embassy cable - 05HARARE196

UNCLAS HARARE 000196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/S 
USDOC FOR ROBERT TELCHIN 
TREASURY FOR OREN WYCHE-SHAW 
PASS USTR FLORIZELLE LISER 
STATE PASS USAID FOR MARJORIE COPSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN, ETRD, PGOV, ECON, EINV, ZI, Trade 
SUBJECT: BFIF PROJECT REPORT: EMBASSY TRADE FAIR PROMOTES 
IT EXPORTS 
 
 
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Summary 
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1. (SBU) An Embassy-hosted trade fair promoting U.S. 
information technology (IT) products on Feb. 3 drew an 
estimated 6,000-8,000 visitors and, according to a post-event 
survey, generated orders worth US$ 374,000. 
 
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Visitors Both Browsed and Purchased 
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2.  (SBU) With assistance from U.S. Commercial Service in 
Johannesburg, the Embassy,s economic-commercial section 
organized the one-day trade fair at the local Sheraton Hotel. 
 Thirty-four private sector exhibitors took part, marketing 
products for Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, NCR, Cisco and many 
others.  The exhibitors paid for their own stands, the 
directory and ten prizes for a raffle.  They transported 
sales representatives or equipment from South Africa.  In 
contrast to other trade fairs in Zimbabwe, the Embassy,s 
event featured U.S. exports and charged neither an 
exhibitor,s fee nor admission to the public.  As a result, 
the fair was frequented heavily, drawing 6,000-8,000 
visitors. 
 
3. (SBU) While many attendees wanted only to catch a glimpse 
of the latest IT products from the U.S., others came to place 
orders.  The Embassy spent two weeks direct-marketing the 
fair to IT managers at the 300 largest local firms, and the 
Ambassador plugged the event on several business and 
technology radio/television programs.  According to our 
post-event  questionnaireevent questionnaire, the fair 
generated a collective US$ 374,000 in new orders.  Exhibitors 
unanimously agreed that it was worth their considerable time 
and expense to take part. 
 
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Program Assessment 
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4. (SBU) We believe the trade fair provided a suitable venue 
for U.S. IT firms to sell their wares and was worth our US$ 
4,000 budget.  More importantly, the fair offered these firms 
an alternative venue to the annual Zimbabwe International 
Trade Fair (ZITF), which the GOZ has increasingly used for 
propaganda purposes.  Furthermore, the fair was also a public 
relations success (septel), providing the Ambassador with 
several opportunities to publicly counter GOZ misinformation 
about U.S. policies. 
 
5. (SBU) The fair also provided companies with a rare 
opportunity to gain access to the GOZ,s key economic 
decision maker, Reserve Bank Governor Gono, who toured the 
fair with the Ambassador for an hour.  While making the 
rounds, Gono promised several CEOs larger low-interest loans 
or greater quantities of foreign exchange.  We plan to press 
the RBZ Governor to make good on these promises. 
 
6. (U) Post wishes to thank EB/CIB Dennis Winstead for 
financial support and other guidance.  Our detailed 
accounting of expenses will follow via septel. 
DELL