Pretoria - Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has inaugurated the National Export Advisory Council (NEAC) which is the oversight body responsible for high level decision making on export.
The NEAC was inaugurated at the recent Team Export South Africa Workshop that was held in Pretoria under the theme “Export-driven Economic Growth and Industrialisation in South Africa”.
Minister Davies said the NEAC will support and contribute to the realisation of governmental programmes and policies as underpinned by National Development Plan (NDP) and New Growth Path (NGP) imperatives culminating into increased exports and employment gains.
“This structure will enable the broader export formations to engage with the government and related agencies on export matters that include competitiveness issues, market access, export strategy and export plans.
“The NEAC will enable the unlocking of opportunities and unleashing of barriers to trade whilst dealing with developmental issues and facilitating market access,” said Minister Davies.
He announced that R2.77 billion worth of export sales were facilitated by the department through selected instruments such as Trade Shows, Outward Selling Missions and Investment and Trade Initiatives.
“This is achieved through the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme that partially compensate South Africa Exporters marketing efforts to sell their products and service into foreign markets.
“R1.6 billion (58%) of the sales were facilitated by companies from the Western Cape, followed by Gauteng at R437 million (16%) and Mpumalanga at R272 million (10%). The sector that accrued the highest sales is Agro-processing.
“This year we target to facilitate R3.5 billion worth of exports through participation in 32 trade missions and 29 national pavilions,” he said.
Minister Davies, who will chair the NEAC, also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, John Block. The NEAC will meet twice a year.
The MoU is aimed at facilitating the joint implementation of the key pillars of the National Exporter Development Programme which include the provision of trade information, capacity building and export promotion. - SAnews.gov.za
