Pretoria - Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies on Tuesday assured business that government is working hard to boost the country’s economy.
Speaking at a breakfast session arranged by the American Chamber of Commerce in Killarney, Minister Davies said the Department of Trade and Industry is creating sector specific programmes to ensure that it supports sectors such as rail and agro processing.
He told the session that the newly launched eighth iteration of the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) highlighted the gas economy as one of the areas of focus for government, which presented a lot of opportunities.
“The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies are also increasingly taking over, with a lot of young black business professionals in the area requiring skills development,” said Minister Davies.
The Minister assured business of government’s support of international investment into the country although the entry of sub-standard goods into the country is still a challenge.
Minister Davies said the decision by Moody’s and confirmation by the International Monetary Fund to retain South Africa’s credit rating came with the condition that the economy was expected to grow and become better than it was by next year.
The rating agency recently affirmed South Africa’s government bond long and short term ratings of Baa2 and P-2 respectively, and assigned a negative outlook. Moody’s is the only solicited rating agency that assigns the same rating for both the domestic and foreign currency denominated debt, Baa2 – a rating that is two notches above sub-investment grade.
Minister Davies said government had moved forward despite the challenges and that this was the story that needed to be told.
The General Manager of HP South Africa, Thibault Dousson, echoed the Minister’s sentiments, saying that South Africa is doing better in the economic environment. – SAnews.gov.za
