The Gauteng government's newly released growth and employment strategy will seek to lower the cost and ease of doing business in a province still regarded as South Africa's economic powerhouse, contributing 35% of national gross domestic product.

Special emphasis would be given to network infrastructure investments, such as energy, transport, water and sanitation, as well as information and communication technologies (ICT).

The provincial authorities believe that such strategic economic investments could assist in reducing transaction costs and improve access to services and markets. Further, it could offer a countercyclical employment and growth engine during periods of economic downturn.

Economic Development MEC Firoz Cachalia told businesspeople and academics at the Gordon Institute of Business Science on Monday that  the Gauteng Employment Growth and Development Strategy (GEGDS) would guide the work of the provincial government until 2014. He added that the provincial 'growth path' was also a contribution to the emerging national growth path.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has indicated that South Africa would need to grow at 7% a year for a sustained period of 20 years to deal with South Africa's debilitating unemployment rate, which has moved above 25% again since the 2009 recession. Economic heartlands such as Gauteng would probably need to grow well beyond that rate to lift the national average.

Cachalia added that the aim of the GEGDS was to transform the structure of a 'city region', which had been severely affected by the 2009 recession, into one that could "create decent work through an endogenously growing, inclusive, innovating and greener economy".

Work was being done on what could emerge as new flagship infrastructure projects, covering energy, freight and passenger logistics, property developments, tourism infrastructure and broadband ICT connectivity.

Cachalia said that a task team had been set up between the province and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), as lead funding arranger, to facilitate the implementation of such projects.

The further development of the Constitution Hill precinct was a top priority, as was a plan to create six freight logistics hubs on the outskirts of Gauteng, which could dramatically improve freight logistics in the province.

These projects would not be funded off the provincial balance sheet and would be pursued in partnership with the private sector.

A provincial 'infrastructure fund' had also been established to attract private sector and to close "significant funding gaps".

Besides infrastructure, the strategy also emphasises the fostering of industrial sectors that have "large employment multipliers", including so-called green industries.

The DBSA, the MEC said, had been given a mandate to also look at ways to support renewable energy projects, in particular the creation of enterprises able to produce systems and components for South Africa's deployment of renewable generation technologies.

"We are confident that we are on the right track with this growth path, but we remain open to new ideas, dialogue and partnership," Cachalia said.