D Africa on economic development and tourism forum

15 March 2006

The Member of Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development and Tourism,
Darkey Africa held a stakeholders’ forum meeting on the 15 March 2006 to
address issues that affected his department. The objective of the meeting was
for the MEC to deliberate with the departmental stakeholders about the
Departmental budget speech that will be held on 9 May 2006. The Department was
looking for contributions and inputs.

The event was held at the Bio-Diesel project site at Setumo Dam, near
Tontonyane Village. In line with the recently introduced Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) Initiative, aimed at accelerating
growth in the southern African economy where attention is given to sector
specific strategies and special projects, the MEC also donated a cheque for R10
million to the Bio-Diesel project.

This event also marked the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding, one
with ABSA Bank to advance the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) sector
and the other Automotive Industrial Development Cluster (AIDC) to advance the
automotive component supplier sector in the province.

According to the MEC Africa, the first agreement with ABSA Bank is primarily
focusing on the joint fund aimed at funding SMMEs in the province. He said this
initiative will serve to assist SMMEs in accessing start-up funding for their
businesses.

The second agreement with AIDC was reportedly aimed at the implementation of
the Provincial Automotive Development Strategy in the North West. This strategy
seeks to develop and expand the manufacturer base in the automotive component
sector and it includes capacity building, and industry development
projects.

“These are the kinds of partnerships we are talking about, where the
province is able to partner with social partners, whether in the area of
technology and sector specific development, skills development or through
investment in the Province,” said the MEC.

He continued to say that, the AsgiSA Initiative identified insufficiency of
appropriate skills in the economy as one of the single biggest challenges on
achieving the partnerships he mentioned. He said that this impacts both on the
ability to develop the country’s infrastructure and on the ability to deliver
services efficiently. The skills required, according to the MEC, are of a
technical and scientific nature and of management kind.

The other objectives of the meeting was to get inputs on the Departmental
Budget speech and MEC Africa presented an overview on the Small Enterprise
Development Agency (SEDA) roll out in the province, SMME access to funds, SMME
debt relief, North West Development Corporation (NWDC) rental subsidy scheme.
He also talked on research projects, local economic development support,
departmental events, liquor trade administration as well as gambling matters.
Tourism, key economic development projects, Industrial Development Zone Company
(MIDZ) infrastructure development, youth carwash projects, bio-diesel projects,
where also among the overview presented by the MEC.

“I am only making a scant reference to some of the issues to be raised in
our budget speech on 9 May 2006, primarily due to the fact that it is our
intention today to merely give you a glimpse into the speech and to share these
plans and ideas with you, as our key stakeholders,” said the MEC.

Issued by: Department of Economic Development and Tourism, North West
Provincial Government
15 March 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (www.nwpg.gov.za)