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The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will host an Economic Policy Dialogue on Procurement and Localisation. The dialogue takes place at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) offices in Sandton on Friday, 24 June 2016 at 09:00 under the theme Procurement and Local Content - A Pragmatic Mechanism for Industrial Development.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the policy dialogue aims to create a platform for an inclusive conversation on the identified issues to the extent that it re-opens the procurement debate and draws policy makers to the intricacies that need to be considered when devising policy.

“The dialogue also allows some insight to policy-makers into the legislation or regulations that should flow from the policy. On another level, it allows private sector, business and labour to get an insight into the intricacies and complications inherent in policy and legislation formulation,” he adds.

Davies says public procurement is leveraged to support a variety of economic, social and environmental realities in an effort by government to make a viable contribution to creating and inducing appropriate sector or product specific growth.

“Local procurement provides a policy lever to minimise import leakages which translate into an outflow of funds whilst at the same time attempting to maximise both aggregate demand and supply in the South African economy.  It also proffers an opportunity to encourage long-term growth and supports implementation of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) that influence industrialisation, technology and trade, while stimulating important economic multipliers,” he highlights.

Davies further adds that coordination bottlenecks between the support instruments like National Industrial Participation Programme (NIPP), the Competitive Supplier Development Programme (CSDP) as well as the Defence Industry Participation Program (DIPP), the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and the Local Procurement Accord, should be addressed to smooth the path to implementing the ideals of local content in the designated sectors.

He says it is imperative for business, labour and other stakeholders to continue the dialogue in order to achieve a common understanding and accord with regard to local procurement.

Representatives from business, academia and government are expected to attend the dialogue where they will be addressed by a panel of highly skilled professionals in the area of procurement. These include Director at Fresh Thinking Capital, Dr Roseline Ntshingila-Khosa, Senior Researcher in the research institute of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), Mr Simon Eppel, as well as the Chief Director of Industrial Procurement at the dti, Dr Tebogo Makube. The dialogue will be directed by Mr Clive Ramathibela Smith, a chief investment officer and well-known for his radio commentary on the markets and the general economy.

Issued by the Department of Trade and Industry