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21 September 2008

The Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti), Mandisi Mpahlwa, will deliver a keynote address at the National Productivity Awards that will take place at Sun City in the North West on Tuesday, 23 September 2008. The awards are presented every year to public and private sector enterprises that have made a significant and productive improvement in their work environment. These awards are awarded in the categories of Corporate Sector, Public Sector and Emerging or Small Business Sector.

The awards recognise the successful management practices and improvement that the enterprises apply by paying attention to evidence of social and economic benefits like job creation, empowerment, improved working conditions and safety. Winners will be those enterprises that shall have demonstrated an exceptional contribution to building South Africa's productive capacity. The aim of the awards is to increase the competitiveness and productivity of South African organisations.

The awards ceremony will be one of the highlights of the 15th World Productivity Congress that will be hosted by Productivity South Africa, in partnership with the dti, North West Government and Invest North West, under the theme Competing in the Global Economy: Leading through Productivity, from 22 to 24 September 2008.

More than 1 000 delegates from forty-two countries will attend the congress, which is held in Africa for the first time. The delegates include leading businessmen and women, industrialists, scholars, politicians, administrators and productivity experts from around the globe and from all sectors of industry, commerce and public service.

The congress will provide a unique opportunity for Africa in general, and South Africa in particular, to highlight critical challenges that the continent faces, and the role that productivity can play in addressing these challenges. As a premier international convention dealing with productivity development around the globe, the congress will help elevate the drive towards a greater productivity improvement, which will ultimately lead to an improved quality of life of all Africans. It is also an important event for shaping future governmental approaches to productivity development, and for shaping future organisational strategies.

Topics that will be discussed at the congress include, amongst others, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a leveller of the playing field, innovation in product, process and management practices, productivity and informal economies, exploiting natural resources for competitive advantage, global and regional trade and environmental regulation, global human resource migration, as well as case studies of successful productivity practices.

For further information contact:
Sidwell Medupe
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 073 522 6801

Lillian Mofokeng
Tel: 012 394 1775
Cell: 082 888 8362
E-mail: lmofokeng@thedti.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
21 September 2008