Date: 13/03/2006
Source: The Presidency
Title: Mlambo-Ngcuka: Launch of IBM Integrated Delivery Centre
Address delivered by the Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the launch of the IBM Integrated Delivery Centre, Johannesburg
Programme Director, Mteto Nyati,
Chief Executive Officer of IBM, Mark Harris,
Senior Vice-President of IBM, Joe Dzaluk,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A few years ago President Thabo Mbeki made a call “to make the 21st Century the African Century”. To many this may have sounded like the most far fetched dream imaginable but where there is vision and leadership you will find progress.
In my view most of the people present here today have what we need most to achieve an Africa 21st century.
Our collective efforts to bring about political stability on the African continent have yielded results, democracy is being entrenched. Our focus must now shift towards translating the political gains to the economic front.
Having put in place the necessary framework for the increased trade and investment, we now have to ensure that Africa does indeed prosper and takes advantage of 21st century advancements in science and technology.
Our efforts, as individual member countries of the African continent are being directed at putting in place the necessary infrastructure for increased economic activity in the continent. We recognise that an integral part of that critical infrastructure is information technology (IT), which is the one “equaliser” that can push Africa into the 21st Century.
Africa needs expanded investments in IT.
We have always maintained that South Africa’s approach is not to isolate its development agenda from its neighbours, and indeed the rest of the continent.
Through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), we always seek the bigger picture while we also tackle our responsibility at home. We need the economies of scale none the less.
Government has introduced the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA), last year, as an intervention that elaborates on the specific initiatives needed in order to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014. It is aimed at driving a growing yet shared, economy. Information and communication technology (ICT) is cross-cutting sector within AsgiSA. ICT can accelerate growth and facilitate sharing. It is probably the one sector that can link the First and Second Economy continuously.
The key interventions in AsgiSA are in infrastructure, which includes ICT, sector development which include business process outsourcing and tourism, agriculture, creative industries, human resource and second economy initiatives focusing on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), rural development, youth development and universal access to basic services.
AsgiSA also takes advantage of a stable macro-economic environment, and an economy that has grown at four percent plus in the past two years. With AsgiSA in full steam, we are confident that between 2010 and 2014 we will realise a growth rate of at least six percent of GDP. A challenge which we all need to commit to is to ensure that Growth is shared.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Harris, I have been very much impressed with your vision and the commitment of IBM to our growth agenda.
With you, we have embarked on a drive to competitively position South Africa as a favourable destination for business process outsourcing. To deal with the lingering telecommunications cost issue and skills shortage. IBM’s initiative is one of the answers to several problems that remain even as our economy grows. There are good developments as well. We now boast of Call Centre in South Africa with 16 languages. We can only grow to greater strengths with the initiative such as IBM’s Integrated Delivery Centre we are launching today.
The Integrated Delivery Centre has so far created more than 500 jobs in the past year alone. The confidence shown by the world’s largest IT company in our country is just the medicine we need to quieten the nerves of those who still need convincing. IBM’s stated a plan to create a further 900 jobs in 2006 leaves us in no doubt that this country is on the right path. We need to continue to improve the environment.
The issue of telecommunications costs is already at the top of our agenda. In the short term we would forge ahead with the call centres in disadvantaged areas whose telephone expenses we will subsidise initially while through the Second National Operator (SNO), the regulations and improved infrastructure we will bring down the cost for everybody.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am mindful of the skills challenge we face in your industry and in our economy in general, if the growth we have spoken about is not accompanied by an adequate skills supply it will simply not happen. We are building a partnership with all concerned partners to respond to skills shortage and the many unemployable graduates coming out of the system yearly.
Joint Initiative on Priority and Scarce Skills (JIPSA) will be launched this month as a response to the task of skills acquisition. We will need the support of this industry for JIPSA to succeed and for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Strategy to succeed.
Yours is one of the key sector for which JIPSA exists. Thank you to private sector especially NBI for assisting with JIPSA and Business Trust for supporting the BPO sector strategy BPO, Tourism are the key priority sectors both need ICT and languages and have short turn around time, in that regard many of you present here today because of your charter obligations and your urgent needs, you must actively support JIPSA.
The thousands of unemployed graduates must be considered for call centres so that they can learn languages and the other competencies I know IBM alone has committed to recruiting 50 of the unemployed graduates in the database of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
We highly appreciate this. We need more private sector partners to come forward in this regard and we will continue to pursue your companies. For South Africa to be ahead of competition in this industry we must uphold the highest standards of corporate governance and Intellectual property legislation. Government will enforce compliance at all levels. We will not allow fly by nights on our shores
I am excited and encouraged by what I have seen at IBM today. I am more convinced than ever that our goal to place South Africa on the global map as the business process outsourcing destination of choice is within reach. I am certain that more and more private sector partners will respond to the call. I am glad our approach is Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this industry.
On the side of government we will ensure that we move even faster to improve the investment climate. We are convinced the Africa’s leap frog to the 21st century depends very much on what we do in this sector. All agreements we have in this sector must be vigorously implemented and they are all important.
Well done IBM, may this be one of your many ground breaking success story.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 March 2006
Source: The Presidency
Title: Mlambo-Ngcuka: Launch of IBM Integrated Delivery Centre
Address delivered by the Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the launch of the IBM Integrated Delivery Centre, Johannesburg
Programme Director, Mteto Nyati,
Chief Executive Officer of IBM, Mark Harris,
Senior Vice-President of IBM, Joe Dzaluk,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A few years ago President Thabo Mbeki made a call “to make the 21st Century the African Century”. To many this may have sounded like the most far fetched dream imaginable but where there is vision and leadership you will find progress.
In my view most of the people present here today have what we need most to achieve an Africa 21st century.
Our collective efforts to bring about political stability on the African continent have yielded results, democracy is being entrenched. Our focus must now shift towards translating the political gains to the economic front.
Having put in place the necessary framework for the increased trade and investment, we now have to ensure that Africa does indeed prosper and takes advantage of 21st century advancements in science and technology.
Our efforts, as individual member countries of the African continent are being directed at putting in place the necessary infrastructure for increased economic activity in the continent. We recognise that an integral part of that critical infrastructure is information technology (IT), which is the one “equaliser” that can push Africa into the 21st Century.
Africa needs expanded investments in IT.
We have always maintained that South Africa’s approach is not to isolate its development agenda from its neighbours, and indeed the rest of the continent.
Through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), we always seek the bigger picture while we also tackle our responsibility at home. We need the economies of scale none the less.
Government has introduced the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA), last year, as an intervention that elaborates on the specific initiatives needed in order to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014. It is aimed at driving a growing yet shared, economy. Information and communication technology (ICT) is cross-cutting sector within AsgiSA. ICT can accelerate growth and facilitate sharing. It is probably the one sector that can link the First and Second Economy continuously.
The key interventions in AsgiSA are in infrastructure, which includes ICT, sector development which include business process outsourcing and tourism, agriculture, creative industries, human resource and second economy initiatives focusing on small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), rural development, youth development and universal access to basic services.
AsgiSA also takes advantage of a stable macro-economic environment, and an economy that has grown at four percent plus in the past two years. With AsgiSA in full steam, we are confident that between 2010 and 2014 we will realise a growth rate of at least six percent of GDP. A challenge which we all need to commit to is to ensure that Growth is shared.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Harris, I have been very much impressed with your vision and the commitment of IBM to our growth agenda.
With you, we have embarked on a drive to competitively position South Africa as a favourable destination for business process outsourcing. To deal with the lingering telecommunications cost issue and skills shortage. IBM’s initiative is one of the answers to several problems that remain even as our economy grows. There are good developments as well. We now boast of Call Centre in South Africa with 16 languages. We can only grow to greater strengths with the initiative such as IBM’s Integrated Delivery Centre we are launching today.
The Integrated Delivery Centre has so far created more than 500 jobs in the past year alone. The confidence shown by the world’s largest IT company in our country is just the medicine we need to quieten the nerves of those who still need convincing. IBM’s stated a plan to create a further 900 jobs in 2006 leaves us in no doubt that this country is on the right path. We need to continue to improve the environment.
The issue of telecommunications costs is already at the top of our agenda. In the short term we would forge ahead with the call centres in disadvantaged areas whose telephone expenses we will subsidise initially while through the Second National Operator (SNO), the regulations and improved infrastructure we will bring down the cost for everybody.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am mindful of the skills challenge we face in your industry and in our economy in general, if the growth we have spoken about is not accompanied by an adequate skills supply it will simply not happen. We are building a partnership with all concerned partners to respond to skills shortage and the many unemployable graduates coming out of the system yearly.
Joint Initiative on Priority and Scarce Skills (JIPSA) will be launched this month as a response to the task of skills acquisition. We will need the support of this industry for JIPSA to succeed and for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Strategy to succeed.
Yours is one of the key sector for which JIPSA exists. Thank you to private sector especially NBI for assisting with JIPSA and Business Trust for supporting the BPO sector strategy BPO, Tourism are the key priority sectors both need ICT and languages and have short turn around time, in that regard many of you present here today because of your charter obligations and your urgent needs, you must actively support JIPSA.
The thousands of unemployed graduates must be considered for call centres so that they can learn languages and the other competencies I know IBM alone has committed to recruiting 50 of the unemployed graduates in the database of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
We highly appreciate this. We need more private sector partners to come forward in this regard and we will continue to pursue your companies. For South Africa to be ahead of competition in this industry we must uphold the highest standards of corporate governance and Intellectual property legislation. Government will enforce compliance at all levels. We will not allow fly by nights on our shores
I am excited and encouraged by what I have seen at IBM today. I am more convinced than ever that our goal to place South Africa on the global map as the business process outsourcing destination of choice is within reach. I am certain that more and more private sector partners will respond to the call. I am glad our approach is Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this industry.
On the side of government we will ensure that we move even faster to improve the investment climate. We are convinced the Africa’s leap frog to the 21st century depends very much on what we do in this sector. All agreements we have in this sector must be vigorously implemented and they are all important.
Well done IBM, may this be one of your many ground breaking success story.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
13 March 2006
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