South Africa has some of the best economic policies in the world but fails when it comes to implementing them, a senior government official said on Friday.

The deputy director-general of special economic zones and economic transformation at the department of trade and industry Sipho Zikode also told a workshop that the economy needed to grow at a faster pace to create job opportunities especially for youth.

He singled out broad-based black economic empowerment and the National Industrial Policy as among some of the country's polices designed to govern and grow the economy.

“South Africa has one of the best policies in the world but where we are still lacking as a country is with regard to implementation," Zikode told the inaugural Oil and Gas Sector Transformation workshop in Pretoria.

"These policies have been designed and benchmarked from other countries but taking into account the dynamics of the South African economy and the legacy of policies on discrimination. As we implement these policies we need to learn and improve on implementation gaps."

"We also need to strengthen partnerships between the public and private sector in order to achieve success," he added.

Zikode also urged entrepreneurs to make use of opportunities and support measures made available by the government, saying they must be willing to take risks but also to deliver quality products and services.