Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies to visit Aqua-Farming Enterprise on “Taking the dti to factories” Campaign
The Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies will lead a visit by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in partnership with Productivity SA to Abagold aqua-farming enterprise in Hermanus, Western Cape as part of the “Taking the dti to the Factories” campaign. The visit will take place on Tuesday, 25 October 2016.
The visit is undertaken in order to maintain continuous consultations with the company and to also experience at first-hand benefits of interventions introduced as part of the Workplace Challenge Programme (WPC) which is funded by the dti.
Minister Davies says the WPC is a 24-month enterprise-based productivity enhancement programme that aims to improve the performance, productivity and competitiveness of South African enterprises and sectors. This is done through constructive workplace relations, the improvement of workplace practices, facilitating skills development and establishing model companies to disseminate processes and lessons.
“The rationale behind this programme is to help organisations, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, to improve their productivity and competitiveness through collaboration between employers and employees. This relates to issues such as developing common goals, implementing improvements that lead to world-class competitiveness and best operating services, encouraging the sharing of productivity gains, as well as engendering collaboration between companies involved in similar processes,” says Davies.
He adds that projects that exhibit positive spin-offs from the WPC Programme will enhance industrial growth.
“The WPC Programme has been managed by Productivity SA since 2003 when it was handed over from NEDLAC and has assisted approximately 1140 enterprises, employing over 50 000 employees. It is a co-funded programme, in which a small percentage of the total cost of training is paid for by the enterprise and the balance by the dti. This ensures that enterprises remain committed to participation until the end of the training process,” says Davies.
He highlights that through this programme, enterprises and different organisations are introduced to world-class best practices, including the best approaches of clustering and labour-management co-operation.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe
Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Twitter: @the_dti
