Summit to breathe life into economy – Premier

Premier Stan Mathabatha at the opening of the Limpopo Economic Summit on Friday explained that economic development and transformation, strategic programmes across the mining, agriculture and tourism sectors had been identified and that the province’s fundamental goal was to ensure an industrialisation programme through mineral beneficiation, development of agro-processing cluster and logistics.
The re-affirmation of the role of SMMEs and cooperatives in the productive sectors is a critical component towards radical economic transformation, he said. “What we need most right now is faster, inclusive, job-creating growth,” he said.
Mathabatha said it was clear that government cannot afford to take the work of the summit for granted. “Our people rely on us to craft solutions to the socio-economic challenges they encounter on daily basis.”
He added that government has invited attendees to the summit so that they can help guide the work that must done in the mining sector, with regard to the development of social infrastructure and the work that needs to go into efforts to industrialise the economy. The Limpopo Development Plan (LDP) appreciates the fact that for government to realise their developmental objectives, they need to craft strategic partnerships.
“This summit must also speak to what need to be done with regard to agro-processing, ICT and the knowledge economy, and the support that we need to give to our SMMEs and cooperatives,” Mathabatha said.
“It is for this reason that we have crafted the programme for this summit in such a way that it will assist to respond to the challenges identified by both Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and our own LDP.”
The summit was convened under the theme ‘An industrialisation path towards creating sustainable jobs and poverty reduction for Limpopo Province’ and Mathabatha described it as a platform to breathe life to the vision of the LDP.
He admitted that the summit was convened with appreciation of the fact that socio-economic problems are inherited and run deep. “This summit evidences our commitment to craft lasting solutions to both the problems inherited from our past and those that are imposed on us the global economic environment.”
Mathabatha said the National Development Plan, the roadmap to rid South Africa of poverty and fight inequality, targets growth of 5.4%, but the real Gross Domestic Product growth has slowed markedly, and the economy is now expected to record growth of just 0,5% this year.
“The reality of the economic climate that Minister Gordhan spoke about recently impacts on our provincial economic development goals, in particular, those goals that are encapsulated in our Limpopo Development Plan, the LDP,” he said, adding that the LDP is the province’s development master-plan which reflects its yearning to reduce poverty, eliminate social inequality and create sustainable jobs.
Mathabatha said the LDP has also identified economic regions with significant potential to accelerate the industrialisation process, including but not not limited to Polokwane, Lephalale, Tubatse, Tzaneen and the Makhado-Musina corridor as priority areas in terms of integrated human settlements and economic development.
He said a significant number of economic projects and infrastructure investments are already being implemented in some of these economic regions.

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
>>nelie.observer@gmail.com

Featured photo: Premier Stan Mathabatha addresses the audience at the Limpopo Economic Summit on Friday.