1 IDENTIFICATION AND COMPARISON OF EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SONJA GRATER 1 , ERMIE STEENKAMP 2 AND WILMA VIVIERS 3 1. INTRODUCTION Export promotion policies and programs are mainly aimed at stimulating export growth which could result in GDP growth, improved balance of payment figures, employment and industry diversification (Gillespie & Riddle, 2004). The main objective for export promotion agencies (EPAs) is therefore to assist firms to find foreign markets where their products or services can be sold which would ultimately lead to export market diversification (Martincus & Carballo, 2008). Many export promotion instruments can be used to achieve this objective, such as trade shows and trade missions, providing market information and export assistance, financial incentives and also training to new exporters. EPAs, however, face a common problem of allocating scarce resources and capacity to provide efficient services and ultimately achieve the goal of export market diversification and export growth (Cuyvers, De Pelsmacker, Rayp & Roozen, 1995). Great selectivity is therefore required in implementing government export promotion activities (Cuyvers, 2004; Shankarmahesh et al., 1 Lecturer at the School of Economics, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa. Email: Sonja.Grater@nwu.ac.za . 2 Lecturer at the School of Economics, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa. Email: Ermie.Steenkamp@nwu.ac.za . 3 Director and professor at the School of Economics, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa. Email: Wilma.Viviers@nwu.ac.za .