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When we accepted the award to host GEC 2017 in Milan, Italy early this year, we did so on behalf of millions of entrepreneurs and aspirant entrepreneurs across the length of breadth of our land and the entire African continent. It is also a tribute to the old generation of black entrepreneurs, whose resilience and sacrifices defied the unequal playing fields of our ugly past to become business icons admired by friend and foe.
We are confident that GEC 2017 will help sustain the momentum of an entrepreneurial revolution which President Jacob Zuma set in motion when he made that historic announcement in June last year! I am confident that GEC 2017 will further thrust entrepreneurship and small business development firmly on the national agenda and on the collective consciousness of our nation.

Our government has placed small businesses and co-operatives on the centre stage of our national effort to banish poverty, reduce inequality. Our call to action, as captured in the Nine-Point Plan as articulated by President Zuma, is “Unlocking the potential of SMMEs, cooperatives, township and rural enterprises”. Indeed, if we unlock the potential of small businesses, then we can truly say: “Small business is big business”.

As South Africans and government, we remain concerned that small businesses have an exceedingly high failure rate, and the majority of the casualties are black and women-owned businesses. Statistics tell us that small businesses have limited chances of surviving their first few years. We are confident that a gathering such as this can assist us to find appropriate and sustainable answers to this question and to help to reverse this trend through insightful research and analysis.

As a department, we remain open and receptive to new policy ideas that will help accelerate the formation of new businesses and sustainability of existing one. We see the GEC as a powerful platform to learn what other successful nations are doing to promote and sustain enterprise development.

Government recognises that the small business and co-operative sector face constraints in growing and sustaining their enterprises as a result of lack of business opportunities in both the public and private sectors. Government has taken a decision to set aside 30% of appropriate categories of state procurement for purchasing from SMMEs, co-operatives, township and rural enterprises. The implementation of the public procurement programme, especially the set-asides, will ensure an increased contribution to the GDP, sustainable livelihoods and creation of job opportunities by the small business sector.

Through transversal agreements, government will ensure co-ordinated support to small businesses. Indeed, each government department or agency has something to offer to small businesses and co-operatives. We will also mobilize the private sector to ensure that small businesses and co-operatives are assisted and empowered to grow into viable and thriving enterprises.

Issued by Government Communications (GCIS) on behalf of the Department of Small Business Development