The much-vaunted 2010/11 to 2012/13 Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap2) has moved beyond the realm of public debate and is now firmly in implementation mode, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Tuesday.

Davies told journalists in Cape Town that the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry had subjected the Action Plan to extensive public hearings in recent months and Ipap2 had, subsequently, received broad support from the majority of stakeholders.

Addressing the National Assembly during the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) budget vote, Davies stated that the first quarter in the implementation schedule, which began on April 1, was well under way and that the department had already begun holding regular internal implementation meetings.

"It will be the subject of continuous monitoring and evaluation by government, ongoing oversight and interrogation by the National Assembly and be taken forward and implemented in strengthened consultation, engagement and implementation by government and its social partners, labour and business," Davies told the National Assembly.

The Ipap was premised on the principle that its true value would be found in the outcomes of practice and, therefore, on the principle of "learning by doing", Davies said.

He told journalists that the "rolling Ipap" initiative would be bound to certain performance deliverables, including quarterly reports, which would be delivered to the cluster of economic Ministers, as well as biannual progress reports, which would be delivered to Cabinet.

Significantly, the Ipap2 was also bound by a performance agreement, which was signed between Davies and President Jacob Zuma on April 30, which required the DTI to work with other Ministers in the economic cluster to produce a clear, detailed, costed and multi-pronged strategy to reduce youth unemployment.

Davies stated that the first phase of the implementation of the Ipap would give attention to the issue of procurement and local content.

"We are investing a huge amount of money in infrastructure...If we do not get local industrial manufacturing opportunities from that, not only will we miss out, we will also miss out of the possibility of creating decent work in our countries."

Davies insisted that a new procurement regime would be formulated within the next few months.

He added that the implementation of the Action Plan represented a significant step forward in scaling up government's efforts to promote long-term industrialisation and industrial diversification beyond the country's current reliance on traditional commodities and non-tradeable services.

Its purpose was to expand production in value-added sectors with high employment and growth multipliers that competed in export markets as well as competed in the domestic market against imports.