The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies has assured business that government was working hard to ensure that the economy grows and that business was supported to play its role in restoring the economy. Minister Davies was addressing business representatives at the breakfast session arranged by the American Chamber of Commerce in Killarney this morning.

“The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is creating sector specific programmes to ensure that it supports the sectors of the economy like the rail and agro-processing sectors since this has proved to be more effective,” said Davies.

According to Davies, the new basis for economic growth was in value-addition and manufacturing, as the advantage of supporting manufacturing meant that 1 job created in manufacturing indirectly created 10 jobs in the services sector.  This was because government was aware that not all jobs would come from the manufacturing sector.

Davies told businesspeople that the newly launched eighth iteration of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) highlighted the gas economy as one of the areas of focus for government, which presented a lot of opportunities. He said some of the issues that had a high impact for the IPAP had been mineral beneficiation.

“The ICT companies are also increasingly taking over, with a lot of young black business professionals in the area requiring skills development,” highlighted Davies.

He assured business of government’s support of international investment into the country although the entry of sub-standard goods into the country was still a challenge. Davies said the decision by Moody and confirmation by the International Monetary Fund to retain South Africa’s credit rating came with condition that the economy was expected to grow and become better than it was by next year.

He emphasised that government had moved forward despite the challenges and that, this was the story that needed to be told.

The General Manager of HP South Africa, Mr Thibault Dousson expressed Davies sentiments that looking at the many different economies in the world, South Africa was doing better in the economic environment. He said business had a lot of work to do in terms of skills development and developing small business.

Issued by the Department of Trade and Industry