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DEVELOPMENT EBRAHIM RASOOL, WESTERN CAPE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT, 14 November 2003

The Western Cape Growth and Development Summit held today was organised
around 6 themes:

* More Jobs, better jobs and decent work for all
* Infrastructure, investment and the logistics challenge
* Economic participation and enterprise development
* Human resource development
* Governance and local development
* Institutional arrangements for social dialogue and partnership formation

The summit was preceded by negotiations between social partners in the
Western Cape: The provincial government, business, labour and
community-based organisations.

The main points arising out of the negotiations that cut across these six
themes are that together we commit to:

1. Creating at least 120 000 nett new jobs by 2008 within the priority
economic sectors;

2. Accelerated export growth and increased investment in all priority
economic sectors through supply-side support measures, co-ordinated
marketing campaigns focused on key global markets and public-private
investment in collaborative sector platforms and projects

3. Implementing an Expanded Public Works Programme at all levels of
government as short term amelioration for high unemployment of low skilled
people and for critical economic and community requirements.

4. Establishing a permanent provincial Œrapid response unitı comprising the
social partners to defend current investments and jobs

5. Strengthening the Proudly South Africa campaign locally, in particular
through our public and private procurement processes

6. Significantly increasing levels of investment in key economic and social
infrastructure from the current 1.1% of GRP to 2.5% of the GRP by the year
2008 guided by a Provincial Strategic Infrastructure Plan and the integrated
development planning process, aligned to the National Spatial Development
Perspective

7. Improving the investment environment by increasing capacities and
efficiencies and by co-ordinating policies and processes across and between
different spheres of government, with respect to safety and security, and
the regulatory environment for planning and environmental impact

9. Work in partnership to attract new investment of R5 billion into the
priority economic sectors by the year 2006

10. Implementing a Human Resource Development Strategy with an emphasis on
preparing the youth for employment through 10 000 new learnerships, and the
alignment of Further Education and Training priorities with economic
reality; HIV/Aids, TB and foetal alcohol syndrome prevention and treatment
are prioritised

11. Focus on the effective functioning of SETAs and to participate
proactively in a Provincial Skills Development Forum for the implementation
of the HRD strategy

12. Reviewing the regulatory framework for informal trading in order to make
it more conducive to developing micro and small traders

13. A comprehensive and broad-based empowerment strategy that encompasses
access for historically marginalized groups to procurement opportunities in
the public and private sectors

14. Identifying concrete opportunities for co-operatives to be nurtured and
developed in the key economic sectors

15. Integrated system for service delivery to small business

16. A pilot project to incubate and graduate 100 emerging entrepreneurs (30%
of whom will be women) providing the full spectrum of services in a
co-ordinated and integrated system

The provincial Growth and Development Summit follows the National Growth and
Development Summit in June. The national summit agreed on the following
objectives:

* Building an enduring partnership ­ promoting a shared vision of South
Africaıs growth and development strategy to frame sectoral and developmental
agreements and lay the basis for partnerships in action.

* Addressing urgent challenges ­ selecting from the many possible
interventions those which hold the promise of the greatest possible impact
in the shortest possible time for accelerated investment, job creation,
improved efficiency and productivity, greater social equity, and a fairer
distribution of economic opportunities and rewards.

* Lending a hand - securing the commitment and active participation of all
social partners in those areas identified for prioritised action in ways
that build on the lessons learnt from the successful implementation of
social, economic and development programmes.

Responding to these objectives, the social partners in the Western Cape took
responsibility for developing a framework for a provincial growth and
development strategy supported by all social partners. They undertook to
agree to a set of specific actions and interventions to give effect to the
strategy.

The social partners in the Western Cape therefore began from the premise of
endorsing and re-committing to the National GDS agreement. The social
partners view the provincial GDS as deepening and expanding on the national
GDS agreement and conceptualising it to the unique challenges faced in our
province.

The social partners are convinced that a growth and development strategy
born out of a process of social dialogue will best succeed when it continues
to be informed and supported by a process of continued, consistent and
sustained social dialogue. The institutions and mechanisms for social
dialogue have developed with a unique character in our province. The social
partners commit to strengthening the mechanisms and institutional capacity
for social dialogue and to place this provincial GDS agreement at the heart
of the institutional agenda for the future.

As we move towards celebrating ten years of democracy in South Africa, we
acknowledge that government in concert with its social partners has
developed and implemented a set of co-ordinated economic policies at the
macro-economic and micro-economic level, that has simultaneously
fundamentally restructured the South African economy and pro-actively
responded to the challenges of a rapidly changing global context.

The South African economy is well positioned today to experience a period of
accelerated growth. However, critical structural challenges face us: the
economy remains characterised by high levels of unemployment, high levels of
income and wealth disparity and low levels of public and private investment.

Business undertook to encourage their own sector to be look beyond
individual interests, e.g. they will explore whether excessive price
increases in industries such as tourism and the film industry, which
negatively impact on the growth and development of these sectors and our
image as a province, could be contained.

These are some of the key points which form the basis for agreements
emerging from the provincial GDS, across the themes. They inform the working
agendas to be taken forward over the next three years.

It is further proposed that the Provincial Development Council (PDC), as the
platform for social dialogue, be tasked to monitor and evaluate progress,
reporting quarterly to the social partners, and that every three years a
provincial GDS be held to inform governmentıs medium term expenditure
framework. Annually, the PDC will hold mini-summits to assess and review
progress of the social partners with a view to long term transformation of
the Western Cape economy for the benefit of all the citizens.

For further inquiries, please call Thabo Mabaso on 021 483 3090 or 083 414
8144.

Issued by: The Office of the Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic
Development

14 November 2003