When in Rome, learn their ways of success
The province entered into an agreement with the Italian Export Credit Agency (Sace) which will invest the money in Mpumalanga's hospitals, but the funds will also be used to increase agriculture.
MBOMBELA – On his recent trip to Italy, Mpumalanga premier Mr David Mabuza learnt ways of increasing provincial tourism and optimising agriculture. He also returned with a sturdy cheque of R10 billion to advance the social infrastructure in the province, such as health and education.
According to Mabuza, the visit focused on a number of areas, particularly food-production cooperatives, agro-processing, health care, a doctor-exchange programme and more on building infrastructure.
The province entered into an agreement with the Italian Export Credit Agency (Sace) which will invest the money in Mpumalanga’s hospitals, but the funds will also be used to increase agriculture and to start a local fresh-produce market, so as to look out for the small-scale farmers. One of the main objectives was to increase food production by local small farmers by using their products to feed schoolchildren and hospital patients during feeding schemes.
“We will save largely if we buy produce directly from the producer and cut out the middlemen, which are usually large, commercial corporations,” said Mabuza. “What makes Italy’s agricultural sector so successful is that the entire value chain – that is, production, packaging and marketing – is run by small-scale farmers with shops. That is what we must try to achieve.”
In the health sector, five government hospitals will benefit directly from the investment, namely Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge, and the Middelburg, Bethal, Hlauhlau near KaBokweni and Ermelo hospitals.
“The visit to a public-private partnership health-care facility in Bari was an eye-opener to the delegation. Our health-care facilities are old and dilapidated and lack cutting-edge technology.”
The agreement stated that Sace, as well as private investors, will finance the building procedure, which was estimated to take two years. The provincial government then pays off the loan over a certain period of time. “A 600-bed facility would take our government much longer to build. However, if the Italians build it in two years, we will receive a well-looked-after, well-resourced and highly effective facility.”
As part of the agreement, 10 Italian doctors will work in provincial hospitals. They will bring with them their expertise and in that way educate local doctors. In return, a few qualifying medical students will get the opportunity to study in Italy to bring their knowledge back home where it is needed.
