The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Parks Tau says industrial policy will be in the centre of South Africa’s economic development strategy, which will be characterised by a social compact that include government, civil society, labour and business.
Minister Tau was speaking during the tabling of the department’s Budget Vote in Parliament this afternoon.
“Our industrial policy will be the anchor around which this administration will align and deploy trade instruments, incentives, tools and regulation in areas such as new energy vehicles, green industrialisation, and high-value service sectors such as Global Business Services. The industrial policy will be the centre piece of our economic development strategy, mobilising an all of government and all of society approach,” said Minister Tau.
He pledged to work with the private sector to accelerate the implementation of the eight sector master plans that the department has developed in partnership with various industries. These include clothing, textile, leather and footwear master plan, where 20 000 jobs were created, and poultry and sugar master plans where 54 000 and 80 000 jobs were saved, respectively.
“These master plans have supported localisation, increased investment, exports and job retention. This administration will focus on integrated implementation mechanisms, deploying a government-wide set of tools,” emphasised Minister Tau.
He also said his administration will be deploying resources in order to enhance the growth of the manufacturing sector in order to boost job creation.
“Manufacturing creates jobs in upstream and downstream sectors. These jobs are typically permanent and pay decent wages while workers have access to skills development and career path opportunities. Manufacturing is less volatile than sectors like retail or business services which are vulnerable to economic downturns,” he said.
He added that local procurement or localisation will be used to create early-stage demand in targeted sectors of the economy.
“As you would appreciate, in the short-term, the domestic market is too small and growing too slowly to sustain manufacturing-led growth. In order to reduce our dependence on our small domestic market, the dtic will implement new export measures, coupled with expanding the current measures and improving their effectiveness. In partnership with government, business, labour and civil society, we will work together to expand our export footprint,” he noted.
Minister Tau said the department will use its budget to add impetus on the roll-out of the Special Economic Zones and Industrial Parks programmes in order to expand economic activity to under-developed parts of South Africa. This he said, would create jobs closer to where people live. He said seven of the SEZs that the department has supported have generated investments amounting to R19.6 billion.
Minister Tau also announced that the dtic and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission will engage organised business, labour and other stakeholders to encourage firms to comply with the economic transformation legislation.
For media enquiries and interview requests:
Bongani Lukhele – Director: Media Relations
Tel: (012) 394 1643
Mobile: 079 5083 457
WhatsApp: 074 2998 512
Email: BLukhele@thedtic.gov.za or Mediarelations@thedtic.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)
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