| The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will host the annual Industrial Park symposium and workshop at the Development Bank of Southern Africa conference centre in Midrand, Gauteng from 28 – 29 November 2019. This year the symposium will carry the theme, Positioning the Industrial Parks for Excellence.
According to the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Fikile Majola, the purpose of the symposium is to create a platform to engage key stakeholders linked to the administration and management of state-owned industrial parks.
“This year’s symposium takes stock of the progress to date in support of further coordination, partnerships and collaborative initiatives that are intended to align with regional development and addressing poverty, employment and equality. It will also provide an opportunity for further discussions between the dti and the Chief Executive Officers and Head of Departments of relevant provincial departments and their development agencies,” says Majola.
Majola adds that in the past these symposia successfully promoted networking amongst the industrial parks stakeholders and specifically allowed engagements between the various parks managers. He says the symposia further addressed relevant aspects which included the Association of state-owned Industrial Parks, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s), incentives, resilience, clustering, industrial symbiosis and sustainability.
“Clear progress within the revitalisation programme has become evident with twenty-seven industrial parks now forming part of the programme and sixteen industrial parks currently under revitalisation. While the first phases of the Industrial Park Revitalisation Programme injects resources toward the physical refurbishment of infrastructure, the dti is pursuing added value for the parks and their surrounding communities through the introduction of SOP’s, Digital Hubs, Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Innovation, Resource Efficiency and supplier development for example,” he says.
Majola says together these initiatives support sustainability of the parks and development of the surrounding rural and township areas.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
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