Programme director
Mr David Chavern, Executive Vice President of the United States Chamber of Commerce
Mr Scott Eisner, Executive Director of the Africa Business Initiative
Business Leaders
Ministers and Senior Government Officials
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
Ladies and gentlemen
I wish to thank you most sincerely for allowing me this opportunity to interact with the United States Chamber of Commerce this morning.
I am confident that this gathering today will result in a greater understanding of South Africa’s emerging trade policy.
Similarly, I am optimistic that it will enhance the understanding of Africa’s integration through the regional economic communities, which are meant to lead to economic growth and development of Africa as a whole.
A note on South Africa
South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that is the 17th largest in the world and modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods in major urban centres throughout the region.
South Africa’s mines are the world's largest producers of platinum, gold and chromium and the country’s mining sector accounts for 8.4% of total value added.
South Africa has significant automobile assembly, metal-working, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertiliser, foodstuffs and commercial ship repair industries. The tertiary sector accounts for nearly 65% of national gross domestic product (GDP), and is dominated by financial services and wholesale and retail trade.
Under the World Economic Forum's rating system, South Africa's competitiveness score is all but indistinguishable from those of Brazil, India and Russia.
Growth was robust from 2004 to 2008, averaging five percent, as South Africa reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom, but began to slow down in the second half of 2008 due to the impact of the global financial crisis on commodity prices and demand.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While our economy has been growing it has not created sufficient jobs to make a serious dent on the problem of unemployment.
Consequently, the New Growth Path is intended to address unemployment, inequality and poverty and is a strategy that is principally reliant on creating a significant increase in the number of new jobs in the economy.
Principally, it aims to:
- continue and broaden public investment in infrastructure.
- target more labour absorbing activities in the agricultural and mining value chains, manufacturing, construction and services
- promote innovation through the green economy initiatives and to support rural development and regional integration.
We have set aside close to a trillion rand for investment in the following forms of infrastructure:
- Transport, including rail, freight, and roads
- Water and sanitation
- Energy, i.e. electricity and liquid fuels
- Public housing and creating sustainable human settlements
- Information and communication technology and
- Public health and education among others.
Ladies and gentlemen, herewith lie opportunities for global partners to do business in South Africa.
And as you know South Africa operates in a particular context, with opportunities and challenges.
In this connection, we believe that initiative like the United States National Export Initiative can provide opportunities to strengthen US-sub-Saharan Africa trade relations.
Our government is ready to work with the National Export Initiative to help it identify trade opportunities in South Africa and Africa as a whole.
On regional integration
I believe it is also important for us all to continue to deepen our appreciation of regional integration processes in developing economies and implement measures and policies that serve to support these processes.
This approach will contribute to long term sustainable global economic growth, which is beneficial to both the partners in the developing as well as the developed world.
Major trading partners need to appreciate the dynamics of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and limit measures that could undermine the regional integration agenda in SADC and on the African continent as a whole.
On the whole, South Africa’s growth has a direct impact on the growth of the SADC region; therefore any slowing of growth in South Africa will result in slow economic growth in the region as a whole.
I thank you for this invaluable interaction and hope that the foundation we have laid today will generate better future cooperation and lead to mutual trade benefit.
I thank you.
Source: The Presidency
