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PROFILEAbout Always ThroughForwardingAlways Through Forwardingoperates across a range of businessactivities. These include logisticsservice (with cooperated branchesin harbours as well as airports toprovide high-grade, prime services),property development (developmentand construction on commercialand residential properties),mineral exportation (primarily theexport of chrome, manganese andiron ore) and import and exporttrading (including light industrycommodities).“I chose the logistics sector based onmy previous experience in importsand exports,” she explains. “As weall know, since 1998, South Africaand China have officially establisheddiplomatic relations. Seven yearsafter this historical moment, thevolume of imports and exports hasgrown tremendously. It creates hugepotential for the custom clearance,forwarding and logistics sector.Through intensive competition,my company steadily emerged asone of the most successful Chineseownedlogistics companies by goodreputation, smooth processing andlegal compliance.”Jenny highlights 2008 as a veryimportant year – one that saw hercompany grow to full operation.“Benefitting from my experienceduring the previous years, I receivedacknowledgement from the propertydevelopment, investment and miningsectors,” she says. “My businessalso benefitted from partnershipswith local South African businesses,diversified operations and the positiveglobal economic environment.”During 2009, the global economicdownturn affected countries acrossthe globe, in both the developing anddeveloped world. “Without a doubt, mybusiness also felt the negative impactof the global atmosphere,” Jenny says.“Internationally, the slowdown ofeconomic growth in China directly ledto a limited appetite for South Africanresources, including manganese,chrome and iron ore. My miningbusiness was badly affected. Thedomestic market also showed negativeresults when unemployment grew andconsumers began to feel the pain ofincreased living costs. This createda huge challenge for my logisticsbusiness, as import and exportvolumes dropped dramatically.”So, how did Jenny and hercompany deal with all of thesechallenges? “I still remember thosesleepless nights with the suddenfinancial pressure,” she says. “But,being a lucky bird, I finally conqueredthose challenges. First, I benefittedfrom the growing political andeconomic relations between SouthAfrica and China. In 2010, thePresident of South Africa, Mr JacobZuma, signed a strategic partnershipagreement with Chinese president MrHu Jintao. In late 2011, South Africabecame the fifth country in the BRICSassociation. Benefitting from bilateralagreements in all sectors, Chinarapidly became the largest tradingpartner of South Africa. Obviously,all these activities createdopportunities for my business.Therefore, it is important to keepabreast of developments in thecountry.”Jenny sees great value in being amember of the PBF. “It is importantfor businesses and governmentto communicate with each other,and I believe the PBF is creating agreat platform for that,” she says.“If one knows about the strategicdevelopment, business opportunitiescan be identified and exploited. Thisbenefits the business people, but alsothe country as a whole.”Jenny has dedicated muchtime and effort to establishing herbusiness network in South Africa.Through this, she has met manyemerging South African businesspeople and encountered businessopportunities on a daily basis. “Alot of discussion took place aroundChina-related businesses,” she says.“I also accompanied a PBF delegationto the Harbin trade fair and North-East Asia trade expo in Changchun,China, in 2011. Through all theseinternational activities, I achieveda better understanding of the SouthAfrican business community, andexplored more potential throughclose communication with the PBFdelegates.”Jenny is proud to say that, throughall of her efforts and in spite of thevarious challenges, her companysuccessfully survived the hard times.In fact, it seems they became evenmore successful. “There are more than200 permanent staff, including 80%local employees, in my company,” shesays. “We are also working closelywith local subcontractors regardingsecurity, training, research anddevelopment. When compared tofellow companies in the same sector,we are fairly satisfied with the annualturnover for 2011, and expecting abetter turnout from 2012.” ✥34 I S S U E 1