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Building capacity to help Africa trade better

Next IPAP version drafted, says Minister Davies

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Next IPAP version drafted, says Minister Davies

Next IPAP version drafted, says Minister Davies
Photo credit: Graeme Williams | MediaClub South Africa

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies says a draft of the next iteration of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) has been prepared.

Minister Davies was addressing a post State of the Nation media briefing held on Tuesday by ministers of the Economic Sectors and Employment and Infrastructure Development cluster.

“IPAP has always been a three-year rolling action plan. It is not a vision document. What I can say is that inside the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), we’ve done our work.

“We’ve prepared a draft but IPAP is not a policy document or action plan of the dti – it’s of government as a whole, so we have to take it through government processes. We are ready to launch it at the appropriate time,” he said.

The dti launched the pdf fifth iteration of IPAP (2.38 MB) , which includes specific action plans to promote industrial growth and reduce unemployment, in April last year. Today’s briefing was an opportunity for government to give an overview of progress made by the cluster under the IPAP.

Investment incentives had spurred approximately R143 billion in private sector investments, creating around 144 000 jobs in the process.

In the past two years, substantial diversification of the auto industry – led by the recent establishment of two new minibus-taxi assembly plants – has been recorded.

“We note the appetite for investment in the auto sector,” said Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel.

New investments and developments in the automotive sector include BMW SA introducing a third shift at its Rosslyn plant, and Toyota SA opening a new Ses’fikile tax assembly line in Durban, as well as a R363-million investment in a parts distribution warehouse – the largest in Africa.

The South African labour market has continued to recover from the 2008 financial meltdown.

In 2013, employment climbed by 653 000 or 4.5%. Employment now totals 15.2 million the highest level ever. Since 2009, employment has risen by 1.3 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, the investment rate climbed to 19.2% of GDP compared to 18.9% a year earlier and 18.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010.

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