President Jacob Zuma has today, 25 January 2012, arrived at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The President is accompanied by the following Ministers:
- Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan, the lead Minister of WEF
- Minister in the Presidency, Mr Trevor Manuel
- Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies
- Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Edna Molewa
- Minister of Economic Development, Mr Ebrahim Patel
- Minister of Energy, Ms Dipuo Peters
- Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
WEF 2012 will convene under the theme, The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models, and the meeting will be under four sub-pillars:
- Growth and Employment Models
- Leadership and Innovation Models
- Sustainability and Resource Models
- Social and Technological Models
South Africa will use the WEF meeting to market opportunities offered through the country's development blueprint, the New Growth Path (NGP). The NGP is premised on promoting employment-creating growth in six priority areas: infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism.
The President and his Ministerial team will promote international partnerships with South Africa to drive inclusive growth that will contribute to the country's primary focus, which is to eradicate poverty, inequality and unemployment and improve the quality of life of all, especially the poor.
South Africa has to achieve higher rates of economic growth and stimulate job creation. One of the key focus areas is to intensify infrastructure development, such as our ports, rail, roads, electricity, water, communications and logistics. This will help improve the quality of life as well as the competitiveness and productivity of the economy.
South Africa will also use the meeting to promote the African agenda and the interests of the African continent. Amongst these is infrastructure development in the African continent.
At the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Kampala in 2010, President Jacob Zuma was designated as a Presidential Champion of African Infrastructure.
This initiative, which falls under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), seeks to give Pan-African rail and road infrastructure a much needed push, with a strong focus on the North-South Corridor linking Durban and Mombasa.
South Africa relies heavily on its relatively more established Development Finance Institutions to pursue its infrastructure development goals in Africa. These goals are in line with its foreign policy objective of creating a "Better Africa and a Better World”.
Background
WEF is the world's foremost multi-stakeholder community. Participation is by invitation only and limited to the world's leading:
- Political leaders (from the G20 and other relevant countries)
- Chief executives of a thousand companies
- Heads of international Organizations
- Experts representing our Global Agenda Councils
- Representatives from key civil society stakeholder groups
- Young Global Leaders
- Social Entrepreneurs
- Technology Pioneers
- Global Shapers (under the age of 30)
- Media Leaders
- Spiritual and Cultural Leaders.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203.
