Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies reports that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is consulting with the National Treasury regarding continued funding of the Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) beyond the 2017/18 financial year.

In a response to a Parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance’s Dean Macpherson, Davies said the department continued to receive a “deluge” of requests for support under the scheme, which is designed to support factory expansions, raise competitiveness and improve energy efficiency.

The DTI would motivate for an extension of the incentive through the medium-term expenditure framework process, which had commenced.

In May, the department lowered the investment-value threshold for MCEP to R50-million and encouraged larger projects to seek support under the 12I Tax Allowance Incentive.

Incentive Administration and Development deputy director-general Malebo Mabitje-Thompson told Engineering News Online at the time that it had been forced to make the change in light of ongoing strong demand that could not be adequately matched by the available funding.

“The department has opted to keep the programme open and prioritise strategic projects. These are projects which will unlock capacity to exploit existing market opportunities both domestically and globally and sustain and expand employment and real income growth in the long term,” she explained.

Mabitje-Thompson noted that more than 900 competitiveness-enhancement projects had been supported under MCEP, with R5.3-billion having been committed to date.

In response to Macpherson’s query as to whether outstanding applications had been processed by May 2015 – in line with a timeframe provided in a portfolio committee meeting by director-general Lionel October – Davies said “all 521 outstanding applications” had been processed by that date.

“Three-hundred-and-twenty-four applications were adjudicated by May 2015 and a further 80 adjudicated in June 2015,” the Minister reported, adding the 117 balance would be adjudicated once outstanding information had been submitted.

“It is anticipated that should all outstanding information be submitted to the DTI, the applications may be adjudicated by July 2015.”

Between February and May, the department processed 169 claims worth R441-million, with 359 claims, worth R1-billion, having been disbursed during the 2014/15 financial year.