Chief Political Correspondent

SA's international standing got a major boost yesterday when the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) opened an emergency supply facility near the Johannesburg International Airport.

The facility, which is the fund's first hub outside its headquarters in Copenhagen, will be used to store medicines and nonperishable food stock for emergency relief operations around the world and particularly in Africa.

This will have positive spinoffs for local businesses, which are expected to supply Unicef with food and materials needed every year in conflict areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Unicef in 2001 spent more than R1bn on supplies for aid, disaster management and relief .

Growth in this market has been exponential. In 1997 only 1,3m worth of business was placed with South African companies for aid, disaster relief and associated products.

The location of the facility is also strategic in that it will allow the organisation to efficiently respond to humanitarian crises within the region.

Unicef supply division director Alan Court said SA's sophisticated air, road and sea transport infrastructure was a great motivating factor. Unicef also believed that the country's customs system was run effectively and without administrative hiccups which could cause undue delays for Unicef to dispatch emergency relief material within 48 hours after a problem has been identified.

He said local manufacturers would be the first to be considered when Unicef replenished its supplies. If their prices and quality of products were found competitive, Unicef would use their products on a regular basis. They would be kept at a warehouse near Jet Park industrial zone in Kempton Park.

Court said Unicef had already tested the concept on several occasions such as when intervention was needed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in Mozambique.

"The co-operation that they received from the customs section at the (Johannesburg International) airport was commendable," Court said.

The international fund also appreciated the fact that SA had the most flights to the rest of Africa and therefore there would be no need to chatter planes to disaster areas. It could also utilise road or sea transport in a costeffective manner, he said.

Oct 22 2003 07:10:41:000AM Hopewell Radebe Business Day 1st Edition