The South African government together with its stakeholders will host the National Industrial Parks Summit at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) International Conference Centre in Pretoria from 20-21 April 2023. The theme of the summit is Positioning Industrial Parks as Engines of Growth, Industrialisation and Investments: Through a Reimagined Implementation Framework.
The summit will be hosted by the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic), in partnership with National Treasury, the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA) and supported by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH-Natural Resources Stewardship Programme (GIZ-NatuReS).
The purpose of the summit is to bring together industrial parks stakeholders from across the country to exchange ideas, expertise and knowledge on the new approach advocated by the national strategy for the accelerated development of industrial parks in South Africa.
According to the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ms Nomalungelo Gina the overarching aim of the summit is to mobilise private and public sector stakeholders towards a common goal of transforming industrial parks into active and successful centres of industrialisation and manufacturing, as well as drivers of economic growth, investments and job creation.
“This is critical for realising the objectives of industrial parks in South Africa as enabled sites with enhanced, market facing service offerings to attract and retain investment, and as enablers of sustainable industrialisation to stimulate economic growth and job creation,” says Gina.
Gina adds that over the years, various stakeholders and institutions have undertaken strategic activities to strengthen ongoing operations or pilot concepts to improve industrial park operations.
“The collective body of work emanating from these experiences has reinforced the urgency for transformative change in the operation and development of industrial parks. Guided by this and driven by the increasing complexities confronting industrial parks globally and nationally, an opportunity exists to formulate a sector driven and collectively owned strategy for industrial spaces,” she says.
Gina further says it is crucial for establishing a collective path to retain, sustain and grow investments and jobs through a reimagined industrial implementation framework while addressing critical outcomes such as social development, sustainability and economic growth,” adds Gina.
In 2020, reflecting the commitment of the South African government to the eco-industrial imperative, the dtic signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP) in partnership with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SECO) and the NCPC.
GEIPP is geared to scale up Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) to the level of eco-industrial parks seeking to integrate support at the enterprise and park scales and address critical operational and policy issues.
In the same year, the dtic also signed an MoU with the GIZ Natural Resources Stewardship Programme to support economically, environmentally and socially resilient industrial parks.
Enquiries:
Bongani Lukhele – Director: Media Relations
Tel: (012) 394 1643
Mobile: 079 5083 457
WhatsApp: 074 2998 512
E-mail: BLukhele@thedtic.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)
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