South Africa Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded his visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, where he delivered the message that South Africa was hard at work and remained open for business.

A statement from his office on Friday said Ramaphosa concluded his productive visit to Davos with participation in a WEF session called Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders on Responsible and Responsive Leadership in a multipolar world, which was attended by among others, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and WEF founder Klaus Schwab.

Ramaphosa was leading a 56-person top level government, business and labour delegation to the 2017 Annual Meeting which was held under the theme Responsive and Responsible Leadership.

The delegation included government Ministers Pravin Gordhan, Jeff Radebe, Rob Davies, Ebrahim Patel, Nomvula Mokonyane and KZN MEC Sihle Zikalala, labour representative Dennis George and business leaders, including Jabu Mabuza, Patrice Motsepe, and State-owned enterprise executives from among others, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Public Investment Corporation (PIC) Geoff Qhena and Dan Matjila respectively.

The statement said that Ramaphosa and the South African team had conveyed to the international community South Africa’s openness to business, while stressing its status as a preferred destination for investment.

Key points that Team SA put across included:

– South Africa remained focused on pursuing a path to faster, inclusive and job-creating economic growth

– Government, business and labour had made significant progress in pursuing economic reforms

– South Africa’s strong institutions, stable macroeconomic environment, developed financial markets and strategic position provided a solid platform for stronger growth

– SA remained committed to strong fiscal discipline

– SA was taking steps to strengthen policy certainty

– Government was working to achieve a more supportive business environment, including through Invest SA and incentive programmes

– Government had prioritised energy security.

– Massive infrastructure investment would continue to bolster domestic demand and productive capacity

In Davos, Ramaphosa had participated in a number of WEF sessions, including Powering Africa, Operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Coalition for African Research and Innovation and the Business Interaction Group on South Africa.

He returned to South Africa on Friday.