Small Business Summit
20 August 2007
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) will hold the national Annual
Small Business Summit at the Forever Resorts (formerly Aventura) in Bela Bela,
Limpopo from 30 to 31 August 2007.
More than 500 entrepreneurs, small business financiers, educators,
consultants and experts, as well as government small business policy makers
will attend the Summit, which will be hosted by the Minister of Trade and
Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa. The theme of this year's summit is 'Pledging
commitment to small enterprise development.'
The dignitaries expected to attend the event include India's Minister of
Small Scale Industries Mahabir Prasad, the Deputy Minister of Trade and
Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe, Premier of Limpopo, Sello Moloto, the MEC of
Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Collins Chabane, the Director
General of the dti, Tshediso Matona, and the Executive Mayor of Bela Bela,
Younus Lorgat.
During the summit the Minister will share his perspective on achievements
and how the dti and its partners have been responding to the small business
sector development challenges. It will also be a platform where all government
agencies responsible for assisting entrepreneurs and promoting entrepreneurship
in the county, and the newly-established National Small Business Advisory
Council (NSBAC) will interact with stakeholders and receive public inputs on
their work.
Discussions will include feedback on progress with the implementation of the
national Small Enterprise Development Strategy, as well as evaluation of
government's action on the regulatory programme that responds to
recommendations made during the consultations with various stakeholders.
"As part of the national government plan for enterprise development, the dti
will assess the key strategic elements of the new integrated small enterprise
development strategy. This will ensure that small businesses are an integral
part of the overall economic growth as envisaged in the recently launched
national industrial policy framework. The regional development strategy is
being developed to accelerate small business development in low economic areas
of the country," says the Chief Director of Enterprise Development Unit at the
dti, Mandisa Manjezi.
She adds that the economy is currently growing at over 4% and this will
stimulate opportunities for small enterprises in particular, and there is
reason for a significant investment in the small business sector in the next
decade as part of the strategy to achieve the 6% economic growth and to bring
sustained relief to depressed and marginalised places, people and
enterprises.
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
20 August 2007
