Business Unity South Africa (Busa) on Friday proposed the creation of a small implementation group to work towards improving the attractiveness of the local economy to foreign investors and to ensure that the policies, laws, regulations and incentives that impact on employment, become connected.

Busa president Futhi Mtoba appealed to President Jacob Zuma at a business summit on job creation to step up support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to speed up the roll-out of infrastructure and to establish a bilateral presidential council on growth and jobs, particularly in the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Government has declared 2011 “a year of job creation” with the State pinning its hopes on the economy creating more than five-million jobs in the next ten years. But to do this, Zuma acknowledged that government would require more direct investment in the local economy and greater involvement by the private sector.

The proposed small implementation group would aim to complete preparatory work in the next three months to drive the development of SMEs, infrastructure and economic growth to ensure greater job creation.

“Work and closer cooperation is necessary to leverage the combined lending capacity of government and business for optimal small business development. Government must also tackle the remaining regulatory constraints regarding SMEs,” Mtoba noted.

Zuma pointed out that government has been working to strengthen the legislative and policy frameworks to make it easier to do business in South Africa, and also to support emerging business and broad-based black economic empowerment.

The automotive industry illustrated the job-creating power of a supportive regulatory framework, Busa reported, saying this success needed to be replicated on a cross-cutting basis.

Mtoba further said there must be a greater take-up of public–private partnerships, particularly in the transport and electricity sectors. Lower business costs would require the private sector to operate and own some of the infrastructure of which it is the bulk user, she said.

“Business is committed to assisting government to acquire the skills to design, tender, procure and deliver large-scale capital projects to keep infrastructure spending on course. The implementation group must pave the way for this,” Mtoba added.

Meanwhile, Zuma noted that the sectors that hold the best opportunities for job creation must be clarified. Six sectors, namely infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism, were identified as priority areas in government’s New Growth Path framework, released last year.

“It is business’s responsibility to grow and to create jobs, while the role of government is to create the conditions to encourage the kind of economic growth that creates jobs,” he said.

Further, Mtoba stressed that the creation of jobs would require South African businesses to become more competitive and that partnerships between the business community and government should constantly target the competitiveness of enterprises and the entire economy.

“We need to make ourselves more attractive to investors. Certainty and predictability encourages confidence and makes investment decisions easier. Negative perceptions created in public discourse can undermine this confidence,” she pointed out.

Business leaders also agreed on the importance of creating a more competitive and conducive business environment.

“I think from the private sector’s point of view, the question we all have, is how do we get to the stage where it is easier for business to operate in an environment that is both competitive and relaxed because that is central to the success of any business and economy,” said businessleader and former Eskom chairperson Bobby Godsell.

Nedbank chief economist Dennis Dykes added that the role of the banking sector and its capacity to fund small businesses was also essential in any job creation strategy.

“We are hoping that, stemming from this summit, will have a more vigorous approach on how banks can better assist in the growth of business because there is no doubt that when it comes to business funding, especially small business, the role of the banks is crucial,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Busa stressed that the reversal of job losses in the mining sector would require long-term title certainty and a reliable electricity supply. Promoting jobs in the agriculture and agroprocessing sectors would require certainty of land tenure and steady rural infrastructure development.

“To grow manufacturing and other sectors will require an investment and employment-friendly regulatory regime,” Mtoba stated.

Busa also believed the time was ripe for the establishment of a bilateral business council, as there was a need for a forum to deal with issues relating to the overall coordination and coherence of policies, including issue-based task teams to ensure deliberate progress inbetween the meetings of the proposed council.

Zuma pointed out that South Africa could only achieve consistently higher growth and improve the job creation rate if business and government work together effectively.

“We need to agree on how we are going to work together both within the National Economic Development and Labour Council and also as government and business separately,” he noted.

Government would meet with labour sector organisations on April 19 for a dialogue on its respective roles in contributing to job creation.

“With determination and commitment, we will be able to make 2011 truly a year of job creation,” Zuma concluded.