Sonja Grater is an associate professor in the School of Economic Sciences at the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) where she lectures undergraduate and postgraduate courses in international trade. Prior to joining the NWU she spent some years in the freight forwarding industry. Prof Grater’s research is mainly focused on trade in services and she has authored several publications in this field. She is particularly interested in the potential of services trade for South Africa.

Prof Grater contributed to the development of the TRADE-DSM® (Decision Support Model) for services which is designed to inform government entities and businesses about export market opportunities for different service sectors. She is also currently involved in a number of projects, involving other academics and industry representatives, on trade facilitation (with a focus on customs administration), global value chains (with a services focus), trade facilitation and FDI.