Opening remarks by President Jacob Zuma during the Presidential investor luncheon and World Economic Forum review, Cape Town
Deputy President,
Ministers,
Compatriots and friends from business,
Good day and welcome to this very important interaction.
I would like to first voice my appreciation for the efforts that have been made in the last few weeks by both business and government in preparation for the World Economic Forum and further continuing with the momentum after the Forum.
I am happy that the post DAVOS session of the Minister of Finance and Business on the 29th of January was successful.
It is important for us to align our vision and narrative for the country. This can only prove that for South Africa, DAVOS meetings are not a talk shop. They are serious work.
South Africa has challenges like all developing countries. However, the positive attributes of our country far outweigh the challenges. That is why we always overcome in difficult situations.
As business you are the backbone of the economy as you contribute 85% to our Gross Domestic Product. As government our job is to create an enabling environment.
In this regard, failure in communication and cooperation between government and business is not an option. We are turning the corner. The channels of communication must remain open at all times.
The story of the global economy is known to all. Our own short-term economic outlook is not inspiring.
The low economic growth is a cost to business, community and government.
It ultimately undermines the ability of our people to create better lives and further compromises the ability of government to deliver on basic services.
Together we must look for solutions.
Let us partner in taking the country forward.
Government take the lead in developing enabling economic infrastructure.
This investment should not be allowed to slow down in difficult times as we may lose our comparative advantage to others who are able to invest and develop faster and better ways of doing things.
Straying from our course will leave us ill-prepared for the next up-cycle.
We will thus continue to invest in infrastructure development such as electricity, bulk water, ports and rail infrastructure.
It is for this reason that co-investment with business should be supported.
More importantly, we should never lose sight of the positive attributes that make South Africa an investment destination of choice.
We have a diversified economic base. We have an economy that offers world class business services in areas such as information and communication technology, transport and logistics as well as financial and professional services.
We have strong and transparent public institutions, and are committed to responsible macroeconomic management of the economy.
It is not by accident that the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2015/6 ranked South Africa in the top 10, out of 140 countries.
The countries were surveyed in the areas of availability of financial services, financing through local equity markets, soundness of banks and regulation of security exchanges.
South African businesses are market leaders. They are expanding into Africa in the fields of manufacturing, logistics, retail and financial services.
The Global Competitiveness Report found that South African businesses are amongst the most innovative, ranking 32 in terms of "capacity for innovation” and 33 in company spending on Research and Development.
Some of these businesses that give us so much pride are run by CEOs in this very room.
But in spite of all these positive attributes, the economic outlook remains difficult. It is against this backdrop that as government and business we must abandon the business- as- usual thinking.
We have to start working together.
As the saying goes: "every cloud has a silver lining”. This crisis has created a wonderful opportunity for us to work more closely together.
The issues we should look at are how do we take advantage of the weaker exchange rate to support tourism, localisation and exports broadly?
How do we support small businesses better?
As we ponder these questions we should bear in mind the following factual messages:
- Efforts to resolve our energy challenges are bearing fruit, thanks to electricity from Medupi and co-investment in the renewable energy programme and now going into coal and gas.
- NEDLAC has made notable progress in addressing issues around workplace conflict. The number of strikes reduced markedly in 2015.
- Government has also made strides in coordinating new policy through the new socio economic impact assessment system.
Today we also want to emphasise that we want to support investment. That is why we are developing the InvestSA One Stop Shop concept to remove the red tape and regulatory bottlenecks for investors.
Let me emphasise that we are serious when we say we want to avail ourselves for continuous interaction with business for the good of the economy and our country.
We may not be in a position to change the past.
However, we have the power to map the future.
Let us work together to ensure that in the next economic upswing, South Africa will be in a position to grow faster and employ more people.
Let me extend a warm welcome to you all again.
We look forward to a fruitful engagement.
I thank you.
