South Africa, International Trade Centre to host first-ever Global Small Business Ministerial

(Pretoria/Geneva) The International Trade Centre (ITC) is partnering with the Republic of South Africa to host the first-ever Global SME Ministerial meeting to convene ministers from across the world that are dedicated to the millions of small businesses that form the backbone of the global economy.

This ITC initiative, as the United Nations’ small business agency, will take place in Durban on 22-24 July 2025, in the year of South Africa’s G20 presidency.

The Department of Small Business Development has partnered with ITC to co-host this inaugural Ministerial, which will centre around the theme “Navigating New Business Frontiers” focusing on how SMEs can drive economic transformation in their countries by enabling three key areas:

• Access to finance
• Digital connectivity
• Green transition

Ministers will work during the ministerial on these three areas for SMEs and will set a roadmap to address the most pressing challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises to operate, develop or scale up. SMEs make up 90% of businesses worldwide.

The Global SME Ministerial will include a Business and Innovation Space where policymakers will also engage with private sector leaders to drive innovations by small businesses, boost networks between SMEs and potential investors, showcase success stories and provide the Ministers with tangible experiences from different continent.

Under the umbrella of the SME Ministerial, ITC will organize a leadership dialogue for the global network of Trade Promotion Organizations, feeding into the Ministerial round tables  

ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said: “The world needs a space where SME issues can be discussed at the highest levels. A space where we can create roadmaps, together, for action. A space that opens new opportunities for cooperation and sharing ideas.

This will be a space that will not lose sight of the big picture goals, nor the small and medium-sized businesses whose successes or failures will define our future.

This kind of space is sorely needed. Small firms drive tangible, lasting change from the ground up on global issues from climate change to women’s economic empowerment to digital connectivity, if they have the skills and resources to act. They are not only beneficiaries but drivers of sustainable, inclusive trade.”

By pivoting from commodity extraction to value addition, investing in diversification of products and markets, and strengthening regional links to reduce dependency on a handful of countries, developing countries can take steps to stabilize the global trading system, at a time of uncertainty and instability.

South Africa’s G20 presidency marks the first time the African continent hosts the intergovernmental forum, on the heels of the African Union becoming a permanent member, bringing together development and economic priorities.

For further information, contact ITCMinisterial@intracen.org

Notes for the Editor

About the International Trade Centre – ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC supports small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information, visit www.intracen.org. Follow ITC on X | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Flickr

About the Department of Small Business Development – The Department of Small Business Development was established in 2014 as a standalone national department in the South African government to demonstrate its commitment to place micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and Co-operatives at the centre of economic growth and job creation.

For more information, visit https://www.dsbd.gov.za/about-us.

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Media contact

Susanna Pak, Senior Strategic Communications Officer, Office of the Executive Director, International Trade Centre

E: press@intracen.org