Cape-based public relations agency, HWB Communications has been accepted as a member of the prestigious international Public Relations Global Network (PRGN). HWB is the only company in Africa to have been invited to join the group, an international alliance of the world's leading independent public relations firms.

HWB Communications was accepted into the PRGN at a conference of members held in San Francisco, USA in October. The company was founded in 1996 by Evelyn John Holtzhausen and Ann Wallis-Brown. The addition of South Africa and Argentina to the group means that PRGN now has a total of 36 member agencies and a presence in 20 of the world's top 31 GDP-ranked countries.

According to Frank Cullen of Dublin, Ireland-based Cullen Communications, the PRGN's Membership Chairman, agency members are independent, owner-operated public relations and communications agencies sharing expertise and resources.

Well-established regional, national and international companies and organisations are clients of PRGN agencies that benefit from shared expertise such as specialisation in culture and high-tech communications. They benefit from the agency's ability to access full-service, high-quality communications counsel and execution internationally.

HWB Communications specialises in corporate communications, financial services, leisure, tourism and hospitality. They offer range of PR, marketing and strategic communications services, including crisis management.

Evelyn Holtzhausen CEO of HWB Communications says, "Our membership of this international network means that we have global reach and are now able to promote our clients interests anywhere in the world”, "We have already received a request from Washington DC to represent US business interests in Southern Africa".

The first Argentinean member of PRGN is the Buenos Aires based IdentiaPR, headed by Dominique Biquard and Agustin Stellatelli.