By Bongani Majola
JOHANNESBURG is fast becoming Africa's shopping Mecca, with about R10 billion made from sales last year alone, Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs, Jabu Moleketi, said this week.
"As a province, we are now able to talk about business tourism, of conferencing, exhibitions and making optimal use of the Sandton Convention Centre, Gallagher Estate and other business tourism venues in Johannesburg," Moleketi said at the unveiling of the province's blueprint for economic growth, Gauteng Trade and Industry Strategy 2003, at the Blue IQ offices in Newtown.
The strategy is the province's broad framework for developing the economy to benefit "all the people of Gauteng". It is reviewed annually, according to Moleketi.
It seeks to focus, this year, to broaden participation in the trade and industrial landscape of the province and to make sure that the benefits of economic growth are shared with those most in need.
The development of high value-added manufacturing - focussed along the eastern belt of the province's industrial landscape - is one of the five key strategic thrusts of the strategy. The other four targets are: the development of the province as the smart centre of the country, where cutting-edge technology will be pioneered; the development of the finance and tourism sectors; broadly based business activities that draw in a wider spectrum of people participating in ownership and management levels; and the crucial task of employment generation.
To that end, said Moleketi, "we want to encourage business activity among people who do not have existing wealth, assets and skills, creating employment and at the same time focussing on newer, smaller enterprises, rather than on expanding existing large companies".
Moleketi admitted, however, that the provincial government had not begun to tackle the unemployment problem, but he did, however, say "Gauteng business tourism alone accounts for 33 000 permanent jobs and in 2001 2,17 million business tourists visited the province".
"Having identified these, and other economic strengths, we want to strengthen the socio-economic pillar of the strategy to ensure that economic growth and progress addresses the socio-economic needs in the province," Moleketi said.
