President Jacob Zuma says South Africa recognises the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI). The President was addressing a function of South African and German businesspeople in Berlin, Germany last night.
President Zuma indicated that this openness is reflected in the stock of FDI in South Africa that now accounts for around 42% of our Gross domestic product (GDP).
“Inward flows also continue to grow and over the last five years South Africa accounted for the bulk of new investment projects in Africa with investment arriving from the USA, Member States of the EU, from China, India and other Asian countries,” said the President.
President Zuma said that South Africa was encouraged by the World Economic Forum’s Annual Global Competitiveness Report 2015/16 in which South Africa climbed up 7 places from 56 to 49 countries of 140 countries.
“South Africa’s biggest improvements come in the areas of: health and primary education (up 6 places), efficiency (up 6 places), technological readiness (up 16 places) and innovation (up 5 places). South Africa has also improved in the areas of: macro-economic environment (up 4 places), higher education and training (up 3 places), and business sophistication (up 2 places),” he said.
The President also said German companies should take advantage of economic opportunities in Africa.
“The African continent is now widely acknowledged as the next growth frontier. This is why our trade policy prioritises regional development through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) signed in June 2015 in Sharm el-Sheikh and the Continental Free Trade Area (C-FTA).
The Tripartite Free Trade Area brings together SADC, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community of 26 countries with a population of 600 million and a market size of 1 Trillion dollars. Taking advantage of these developments, we have positioned as a regional manufacturing and services hub and seeks to partner German companies in the industrial and infrastructure development of the African continent,” stated President Zuma.
The President also indicated that South Africa like the developed world is still lingering from the effects of the financial crisis. However, he indicated that government has programmes in place to transform the economy.
“With further headwinds and slowdown in global growth, it makes the task even more difficult to address the challenges of socio-economic development in South Africa. From a South African Government perspective, the National Development Plan (NDP) is our economic blueprint and provides a coherent, comprehensive and pragmatic plan to transform our economy.
It also provides for faster economic growth that is more inclusive. We also have to grow the more advanced sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, parts of financial services, telecommunications and business services. We also announced a nine point plan to push the economy forward, ignite growth and create jobs,” highlighted President Zuma.
President Zuma also stated that South Africa is establishing a one stop Inter-Departmental Clearing House to attend to investor complaints and problems.
He encouraged investors to contact the Department of Trade and Industry regarding the services of the clearing house.
The President further said that since Germany is by far South Africa’s most important trading partner in the Euro28, it is important for the two countries to keep engaging on issues of mutual interest, and improve economic and trade relations between the two countries and the African Continent.
Germany is South Africa’s strategic and long term partner. There are 600 German companies in South Africa employing close to one hundred thousand people.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
