The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ms Nomalungelo Gina says the post COVID-19 period will require more concerted effort in ensuring that different spheres of government collaborate more in undertaking work to improve the lives of the South African citizens.
Gina was speaking in a virtual meeting attended by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Mr Sihle Zikalala and the MEC for Economic Development in KZN Ms Nomusa Dube-Ncube, who were leading teams of government officials from the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the KZN provincial government.
According to Deputy Minister Gina, the main objective of the meeting was to strengthen cooperation between the dtic and the leadership of the province, in order to align the dtic work, to the priorities of the province. The biggest priority is to re-ignite the economy for the benefit of South Africans.
Key areas of focus in the meeting were the draft Social Economy Policy, the Revitalisation of Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) programmes. These programmes have been identified as tools to assist in reigniting the economy of the country.
the dtic has prioritised the revitalisation of industrial parks to accelerate economic development by attracting business investments and to support job creation in manufacturing and related sectors so as to arrest negative externalities associated with urban congestion.
Gina said it was important to closely monitor the ownership of the industrial parks.
“We need to ensure that locals are empowered and that there is sustainability of the projects in different industrial parks,” emphasised Gina
She added that so far up to R760 million has been approved for the first two phases of the revamp programme which is rolled out in state-owned industrial parks throughout the country.
Another critical sector identified as essential for its job creation potential was the Social Economy. the dtic is currently in the process of finalising a policy. It is estimated that if social economy jobs increased by an achievable 2% every year, it could add 250 000 jobs to the economy by 2030.
The Special Economic Zones are increasingly becoming important tools used to drive industrialisation globally. the dtic, has adopted a new approach in running SEZs, which is anchored on the District Development Model, with a strong involvement of national government to ensure greater succes.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Dube Trade Port has been identified as one of the best performing SEZs in the country. It has so far attracted 42 operational investments, worth approximately R1.8 billion.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedtic.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dtic
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