The
Portfolio Committee having considered Budget Vote 32: Trade and Industry,
reports as follows:
1. Introduction
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry fully supports
the framework agreement that outlines
The strategic objectives of the Department of Trade and
Industry (the DTI) are underpinned by the President’s June 2009 State of the
Nation Address, which raised a number of issues, namely:
·
Industrial
development focusing on the automobile, chemicals, metal fabrication, tourism,
and clothing and textiles sectors, as well as forestry. Furthermore, additional
attention will also be paid to services, light manufacturing and construction
amongst others, in the quest to create decent jobs.
·
Broadening
participation of historically disadvantaged groups and rural areas in the
economy through for instance co-operatives.
·
Increasing
trade, investments and exports through regional integration with the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union
(SACU).
Portfolio committees exercise oversight over their
respective departments and agencies in line with their Constitutional mandate
set out in section 55(2) of the Constitution (No. 108 of 1996) and section 27
(4) of the Public Finance Management Act (No. 1 of 1999). Due
to the re-structuring of ministries and departments, budgets have yet to be
realigned. The establishment of the Ministry of Economic Development impacts on
the Trade and Industry budget. Funds will be allocated to the Department of
Economic Development once the functions have been clearly outlined.
The new
Department’s focus, according to Minister Patel, “would be the promotion of
economic policy development, co-ordination and alignment in government”.
Despite the existence of these two separate departments, the current vote has
to be passed before the realigned budgets can be developed. Therefore, Budget
Vote 32 would be approved and debated by Parliament as a single vote for this
financial year.
2. Process
The Committees of Economic Development and of Trade and
Industry held separate meetings with their respective Ministers regarding the
envisaged departmental policy frameworks. The Portfolio Committee on Trade and
Industry met on 17 June 2009 to consider the Medium Term Strategic Framework
2009 – 2012 of the DTI, Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd (Khula) and the Industrial
Development Corporation (IDC). The selection of these two entities was due to
the time constraints of the fourth Parliament in having to pass the new budget
votes, as well as the uncertainty around the more complex process of
restructuring the affected departments and the subsequent process of realigning
their strategic plans and budgets accordingly.
The Portfolio Committee on Economic Development held its
meeting with Minister E. Patel on 19 June 2009. The Minister indicated that the
initial phase of the establishment of the Department of Economic Development
should be completed by the end of September 2009. National Treasury is expected
to table an adjustment budget, which would accommodate the Department of
Economic Development.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, the Hon Rob Davies,
provided the policy context within which the Medium Term Strategic Framework
has been developed for the DTI. The Strategic Plan for the DTI was presented by
the Director-General of the DTI, while the CEOs of Khula and the IDC briefed
the Committee on their respective strategic plans. The position of the
Committee after the deliberations is captured in the report.
3. Policy context
The
challenges facing the Department are synthesized against a backdrop of a global
economic meltdown. This calls for policies and measures that will address the
revitalisation of the critical industrial sectors while ensuring trade
negotiations create a responsive trading environment and that both retain and
create sustainable employment generation.
The National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF) which
outlines urgent interventions to ensure
The lead sectors identified by the President, in his State
of the Nation Address, included areas identified by the DTI as requiring urgent
attention to arrest the decline and retain the skills and jobs. These sectors
were the automotive industry, chemicals, metal fabrication, tourism, and
clothing and textile sectors, as well as the forestry sector. Notable
achievements were the Automotive Industry Programme (AIP), as well as the
design of new programmes for the clothing and textile industry.
The DTI’s role is to promote employment and equity through
economic growth within a developmental state in line with
The Minister pointed out that the “Framework for
However, the Committee emphasized the need for the DTI to
work closely with institutions that would be able to provide the necessary
support for industrial policy so as to achieve the goals set out in the
“Framework”. The Minister agreed and
added that the “response to this crisis situation should be guided firstly by
how jobs can be defended and secondly by whether existing strategic industrial
capacity can be defended”. He further argued that this response should lay the
foundation for longer-term sustainable development within some of these
industries.
The Ministry’s intention is to continue to broaden the AIP,
investing in the improvement of transport infrastructure, and ensuring that
busses for the “Bus Rapid Transit System” are manufactured locally thereby
stimulating local automotive industries. Metal fabrication, capital and
transport equipment are critical industries that provide inputs for the
infrastructure investment programme and could provide real growth opportunities
within the industrial sector. These
policy interventions are crucial in stimulating economic growth and creating
sustainable jobs.
The Minister pointed out that the “Framework for
The Minister confirmed the Department’s intention to develop
a roll-out of the radically reviewed IPAP over the next three years, which
would support sustainable development by:
·
Developing
and implementing a technical infrastructure strategy (including standards,
quality assurance, accreditation and metrology).
·
Addressing
the human resource and other organisational constraints that would delay
effective service delivery.
·
Developing
partnerships with our institutions of higher learning by entering into
mentorship and training agreements.
·
Strengthening
regional industrial development through proactive engagement with our regional
trading partners to ensure that appropriate norms and standards, which are
mutually beneficial, are adhered to.
The Committee welcomes the Minister’s commitment to trade
policy in
Indeed, in the Committee’s opinion, Parliament should
exercise its oversight role more substantively in this regard by taking a more
active role during the preparation phase of the trade negotiations. This allows
Parliament the opportunity to deliberate on the relevant trade issues and give
a broad mandate for the Minister to negotiate from and so strengthen
With respect to South-South trade relations, the Minister
expressed his belief that the possibility exists to shape a new pattern of
trade-related cooperation agreements with the countries of the South. However, a coherent agenda on trade
negotiations is lacking with the developed world. As a country,
In response to the Committee’s enquiries around the interim
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed between the EU and three of the
SACU members (Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland), and how this affected South
Africa and regional integration. The Minister pointed out that the interim EPA
could undermine the SACU. The Minister emphasised that
He added that
4. Department of Trade and Industry’s Strategic Plan and Budget
The Medium Term Strategic Framework of the DTI was presented
to the Committee within the context of the current global economic slowdown and
its impact on the South African economy. The briefing
provided an overview of the Department’s strategic objectives and key
interventions, a brief overview of the allocated resources, monitoring,
evaluation and reporting systems and key challenges to effective implementation
of its strategic plan. One of the challenges expressed by the Department was
the clarification of the role of the new Department of Economic Development and
how this would affect the Department and its strategic plan.
The DTI’s
budget vote allocation of R6.3 billion has increased by 25% from 2008/09 to
2009/10. This increase has been primarily in two programmes, namely the
Enterprise Organisation and Consumer and Corporate Regulation. The largest
proportions of the budget were allocated to The Enterprise Organisation (54.2%)
and the Empowerment and Enterprise Development (20.6%) programmes in 2009/10.
These allocations indicate a continued focus in terms of industrial
development, supporting small, micro and medium enterprises and broadening
participation in line with the State of the Nation Address objectives. There
would also be additional support for efficient regulation of practices that
affect consumers, particularly through monitoring, enforcement and compliance
of consumer and corporate legislation.
In terms of
trade, investment and export support, the International Trade and Development
programme received an increase of 14.7% and this constituted 2.7% of the budget
in 2009/10. This indicates additional resource allocation for the building of
links for international trade development. However, the Trade and Investment
South Africa programme’s budget decreased by 4.9% and this constituted 4.5% of
the budget in 2009/10, which indicates a decrease in the support for increasing
export capacity and for direct investment flows to
The
Committee raised a number of issues related to industrial development, the
alignment of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) with other policies
such as the Preferential Procurement Policy, and the Department’s co-ordinating
role within government’s economic cluster. These issues are briefly outlined
below.
4.1.
Industrial Development
The
Committee enquired about the proposed revision of the IPAP. In response, the
Department confirmed that the IPAP would be refined. The Minister reiterated
this and explained that the focus would be on implementing the necessary
interventions to affect key structural changes along with additional
interventions that would produce quick gains.
4.2.
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment
In the
Committee’s opinion, BBBEE has not effectively been implemented as intended, in
particular, in its current form, as it lacks the essential component of being
broad-based. Hence the Committee welcomed the decision of the Minister to
review the system and streamline its current complex form so that it could
achieve its targeted mission. The Department concurred that the outcomes of BEE
have not been consistent and that there was a need to collect its own empirical
data to analyse the impact of the policy. It also stated that there was a need
to establish the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council, as provided for
in Section 4 of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act (No. 53 of
2003), which would be responsible for such a review.
The
Committee noted that information was required on the Preferential Procurement
Policy and that there was a need to interrogate the procurement and tender
policies. In the Committee’s opinion, the procurement policy was not considered
to be aligned with BBBEE policies, which was causing problems, at especially
local government levels. The Department responded that BEE should be stimulated
by the State in terms of procurement and licensing, which has not occurred. In
terms of the transparency of tender and procurement policies, the Department
indicated that the rigorous audit processes that it endures annually has
confirmed that transparency exists in this respect. The Department also indicated that it would be
willing to share information on the alignment of the BBBEE and Preferential
Procurement policies with the Committee. The Committee indicated that it would
initiate its own review of the BBBEE process and its alignment with the
Preferential Procurement Policy.
4.3.
Southern African Customs Union
The
Committee expressed their concerns regarding the interim EPA that has been
signed by
4.4. Trade
policy
The
Committee expressed a need for the Department to adopt a development model to
guide trade policy in conjunction with a flexible and pragmatic approach to
trade policy. The Department indicated that the trade policy of opening the
economy has not been effectively aligned with the support provided to industry.
This has resulted in industries not being able to cope with the effects of the
global market, as they were exposed but had not become adequately competitive.
About 18
months ago, the Department had indicated to the Committee that a refined trade
policy would be provided but this has not yet been received by the Committee.
The Department reported that the trade review should be concluded shortly and
would be presented to the Minister for his input before it would be published,
thereafter it would be presented to the Committee. The review covers trade
performance over the last 15 years, a review of changes of trade tariffs,
recommendations for future tariff reform, new issues on the international trade
agenda and
4.5.
Consumer and Corporate Regulation
Members of
the Committee commended the work conducted by the competition authorities in
respect of its work in investigating prohibited practices and leading to the
prosecution of offending companies. Furthermore, the Department indicated that
there was a drive to enhance the competition authorities’ capacity in order to
continue the good results that they have achieved. The Committee highlighted
the need to provide adequate resources for more effectiveness of these
authorities.
However, the
Committee remarked that there was a need to continuously monitor the regulatory
component of the DTI, to ensure that the economy is kept ‘clean’ of fraud,
price-fixing and other distortions. In the Committee’s opinion, in line with
international developments, a far stronger emphasis should be placed on
tightening the regulatory environment within
The
Committee felt that there was a need to interrogate other regulatory
institutions, such as the National Lotteries Board, in terms of their capacity
to fulfil their mandates and progress made. The Committee will also interrogate
the impact of the National Credit Act and the work of the National Credit
Regulator on a continuous basis. In the Committee’s view, these institutions
could play a critical role in minimising unfair practices that
disproportionately disadvantage the poor and could positively impact on poverty
alleviation efforts.
4.6.
Co-ordination
The
Committee expressed the need for continuous updates on the co-ordinating role
of the DTI in the economic cluster. It was suggested that this become a
standing item on the Committee’s agenda, in order to determine how other
departments are reinforcing or complementing the Department’s work. The
Department noted that in future it would be playing a co-ordinating role
together with the Department of Economic Development in the economic cluster.
4.7.
Incentive Schemes
The
Committee raised a number of questions around incentive payments and schemes,
and felt that there would be a need for further engagement with the Department
in this regard. The Department responded that the incentive payments referred
to the grant programmes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) mainly in the
manufacturing and tourism sectors, as well as for sector specific grant
programmes, such as the film industry and business process outsourcing. Access
to these funds was dependent on a number of conditionalities, such as
employment generation and geographical location. The size of the grant was up
to 30% of the capital component invested in the project. In the Committee’s
view, incentive payments and schemes addressed a wider spectrum than what the
Department has reported on.
4.8.
Co-operatives
The
Committee felt that more financial and other support needs to be given to
co-operatives, as it is a useful instrument in addressing the challenge of
employment creation especially in areas where there are income disparities.
Historically, co-operatives have been relegated to sections of the DTI’s
sub-programmes. More recently, Khula, Small Enterprise Development Agency
(SEDA) and the South African Micro-finance Apex Fund (SAMAF) were given the
responsibility of supporting co-operatives. In the Committee’s opinion,
co-operatives could be a much more important instrument if more emphasis was
placed on its location and dedicated funds were allocated to it.
5. Industrial Development Corporation’s Strategic Plan
The
Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) provided the Committee with an
overview of the current economic situation and its strategic plan for 2010 to
2012. During its briefing, the IDC highlighted its alignment with national
objectives. In its view, this included:
·
Addressing unemployment through job
retention initiatives and a continued focus on labour intensive industries.
·
Developing entrepreneurs and SMEs
through the provision of funds, business support and training, as well as
building partnerships with entrepreneurs and working with Khula to reach SMEs.
·
Developing rural areas and regions
through development agencies, regional offices and a sector specific focus.
·
Supporting and facilitating BBBEE
through specifically targeted funds, such as the Women Entrepreneurial, the
People with Disability and Community Funds.
·
Focusing on renewable energy and
cleaner technologies by investing in projects that develop cleaner
technologies, supporting companies that sell carbon credits as an income stream
and through the Energy Enterprise Efficiency Programme for
·
Providing economic planning and
industrial policy support to government.
·
Providing funding for infrastructure
development.
·
Assisting companies in distress.
One of the
key focuses of the State of the Nation Address was the role that IDC had to
play in terms of providing relief or assistance to companies in distress.
However, there was little focus or information provided to the Committee in
this regard. In the Committee’s opinion, the IDC is a critical player in the
implementation of the country’s industrial mandate. It should be viewed as a
catalyst to stimulate industrial development and should play a more active role
in job creation. The Committee is of the view that the IDC should be at the
forefront of industrial development by providing the necessary financial
support but should not operate using the narrow lending criteria of a bank. The
business model of self-financing does not lend itself to this mandate and
prohibits the IDC’s ability to invest in major industrialisation projects. The
Committee therefore needs to introduce the debate on the issue of
self-financing versus government funded recapitalisation to ensure that the IDC
operates optimally.
The
Committee raised a number of issues pertaining to the briefing. These related
to large projects, the IDC’s response to the international economic crisis,
beneficiation, the IDC’s source of funds, collaboration and the bias in terms
of spatial development. These are outlined below.
5.1. Large
projects
The
Committee remarked that there was a need to grow the economy as a whole, and
that large projects play a fundamental role in achieving this. A question arose
on how these large projects would affect the growth of employment. Furthermore,
the Committee enquired why there were only electricity projects in
5.2.
Response to the International Crisis
The
Committee noted that the prospects of job creation that IDC reported were not
promising considering the President’s commitment to create 500 000 jobs by the
end of the year. A question arose regarding the sufficiency of the IDC’s
contribution in meeting this target. The IDC reported that only direct jobs
were being estimated, thus there was scope for additional indirect jobs to be
created.
The
Committee enquired whether the DTI has considered limiting imports on luxury
products and instead investing in import substituting industries to address the
balance of payments deficit. However, the Director-General pointed out that the
deficit was being driven by the government’s infrastructure capital expenditure
and not luxury goods. There is also consideration being given to developing
local capacity to manufacture these capital intensive goods.
The
Committee enquired about the IDC’s criteria for assisting companies in
distress, especially the Frame Textile Group and how the funds would be loaned.
The IDC responded that they were still in discussion with the Frame Textile
Group and have not finalised whether they would be providing assistance.
Furthermore, companies were assisted on a case by case basis. However, the IDC
did not provide the specific criteria used, apart from the fact that only
companies that were normally sustainable and were currently experiencing a
cyclical loss due to the economic crisis would be considered. In terms of the
IDC’s role in assisting companies in distress, the Committee is of the view
that the IDC should not have an ad hoc approach to who it assists but should
consider the long term objectives of the country when doing this selection
process.
5.3. Beneficiation
In terms of
beneficiation, the Committee mentioned that there are three aspects to
beneficiation, namely capital intensity (affecting job creation), resource
depletion and downstream activity. The emphasis is usually on capital
intensity, but since the IDC invests in minerals beneficiation, the question
was raised regarding their views on resource depletion and downstream activity.
The IDC responded that it is investing in beneficiation projects that have the
capacity to export. The IDC noted that
5.4. Source
of Funds
The
Committee enquired about the IDC’s source of funds and the cost of funding. The
IDC responded that its income is mainly generated through its investments in
South African companies or is borrowed from international agencies mainly from
the EU and Asia (particularly
The
Committee also remarked that the IDC’s capital base was declining mainly due to
the impacts of a falling stock exchange. It suggested that the IDC’s model of
financial self-sustenance should be reviewed and a debate on whether government
should consider providing funds, when necessary, to promote the IDC’s
contribution to society should be engaged in. The IDC welcomed this debate but
also indicated that it still has room to expand investments.
5.5. Collaboration
The
recognition of the importance of local economic development in contributing to
economic growth, employment generation and equity by the IDC underpins its
policy to partner with provincial and municipal development agencies. The
Committee commends this endeavour. However, it would have liked to learn more
about the challenges and success stories in this endeavour. Furthermore, the
question arose as to whether the provincial and municipal agencies were not
better placed to deal with the lower-end of the market.
The IDC
responded that it has been involved in training local development agencies in
terms of risk management and due diligence, as well as co-investing with these
to develop their capacity. The intention behind this has been to improve their
service delivery capacity to the local economy and increase financial
sustainability of these agencies, thus ensuring sustainable employment and
improved access to finance. This would also allow the IDC to focus on larger
projects as the other institutions’ capacity grows.
5.6. Spatial
Development
The
Committee strongly expressed the need that the IDC break the perpetuation of
the spatial development bias and extend financing into less developed areas and
away from the currently well-developed urban areas in line with the State of
the Nation Address’s focus on development in rural and peri-urban areas.
6. Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd on KhulaDirect
Khula is a
development finance institution, which was established to ensure the
availability of finance to SMEs, in areas where commercial financial
institutions were wary to lend. During the briefing, Khula provided an overview
of its mandate, the wholesale model it has been operating under, constraints
and achievements of the current model, as well as the proposed implementation
plan for KhulaDirect. The previous Committee had been appealing for the
establishment of a retail model to address the bottlenecks of the wholesale
model. This has come to fruition in the form of KhulaDirect. As the proposal for
KhulaDirect has been approved by Cabinet on 3 December 2008, Khula is currently
in the process of developing the implementation plan together with the DTI.
Some of the reasons identified for the retail model were that:
·
Khula and its commercial partners’
objectives were often divergent, leading to a handicap in terms of driving
Khula’s development and destination targets.
·
The wholesale model is too complex
and not easily understood by the target market. In addition, in its current
form, it increases risk, delivery costs and interest rates charged.
·
The target market is often unaware
of the State’s support for SMEs.
Khula
proposed that KhulaDirect would use existing infrastructure in the form of the
Khula regional offices, the acquisition of existing retail finance
intermediaries (RFIs), a pilot commercial bank and partnerships with private
and state-owned enterprises. In the Committee’s opinion, Khula should focus on
improving access to finance for development within rural areas in line with the
State of the Nation Address objectives.
The
Committee raised several issues related to Khula’s source of funding,
mentorship programme, geographical spread and collaboration efforts, as well as
the implementation plan for KhulaDirect. These are outlined below.
6.1. Source of funding
The
Committee enquired about Khula’s access to funding in order to increase its
loan book and recapitalise itself in order to enter the retail market. Khula
informed the Committee that, according to the Public Finance Management Act (No.
1 of 1999), they are unable to borrow funds as they are a Schedule 3 public
entity and are dependent on financial support from government. Khula further
indicated that it intends to finance some of its recapitalisation by applying
for access to some of the additional funds that have been allocated for
enterprise and small business development according to the 2009 Budget Speech.
6.2. Mentorship
The
Committee enquired about the nature and level of support Khula provided towards
SMEs. In response, Khula informed the Committee that it provides pre- and
post-loan mentorship. It indicated that there are approximately 400 mentors
that are provided in conjunction with SEDA. Mentors are trained by the
Institute for Business Advisers to ensure the quality of its mentorship
programme.
6.3. Implementation of KhulaDirect
The
Committee enquired why Khula could not disburse funds directly, what the
identity of the proposed pilot commercial bank was and why it was selected.
Khula informed the Committee that the original wholesale model only allowed
that Khula would be a guarantor and leverage commercial banks to finance the
poor. However, banks tended to only use these guarantees for the riskiest
borrowers. So far, ABSA had been the most co-operative in assisting Khula to
achieve this mandate.
With regard
to commercial banks, the Committee enquired whether the State should “compete”
within the banking sector as it appeared that there is the intention to control
certain aspects of the banks. Khula assured the Committee that it selects
sustainable RFIs, which have a wide reach in rural areas, as partners. The
intention is to take equity in RFIs that are progressive, self-sustainable and
provide access to finance to people who are historically disadvantaged and
would normally not be able to access funds. Khula also assured the Committee
that it would not be competing with the private sector but would rather develop partnerships.
6.4. Geographical spread
The
Committee enquired about Khula’s provincial reach and whether the 290 branches
referred to were branches held by the RFIs. Khula informed the Committee that
the provincial spread has mainly been developed within
6.5. Collaboration
The
Committee enquired about the extent of Khula’s involvement with regard to other
financing institutions such as the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, Land Bank and the
MAFISA Agricultural Development Fund, and the effectiveness of such
involvement. Khula responded that it had
been referring entrepreneurs to Umsobomvu Youth Fund or other relevant entities
where necessary. The Committee would continue its enquiry on Khula’s
collaboration efforts.
7. Conclusion
Based on the deliberations, the
Committee concluded the following:
7.1. That
the Ministers of Economic Development and of Trade and Industry brief their
respective Committees to provide clarity on the roles of the Departments of
Economic Development and of Trade and Industry within four months of tabling of
this report.
7.2. That
the Departments of Trade and Industry and of Economic Development brief their
respective Committees on how it intends to address human resource capacity of
the departments within three months of the adoption of the report by the
Assembly.
7.3. That
the DTI briefs the Committee on the review and implementation of the Industrial
Policy Action Plan within six months of the adoption of the report by the
Assembly.
7.4. That
the DTI presents a draft of the trade policy review to the Committee after
engaging with the Cabinet.
7.5. That
the department of Trade and Industry briefs the Committee on the refined
Incentive Scheme in conjunction with other participating departments. This
briefing should involve the relevant portfolio committees.
7.6. That
the DTI places an increased emphasis on the support of co-operatives and
provides information on its work on co-operatives. Certain quota of procurement
is apportioned to co-operatives by the public and private sectors.
7.7. That
both departments should emphasise the inclusion of the target groups identified
in the State of the Nation Address, including people with disabilities, women and
youth.
7.8. That
Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd provides the Committee with a full briefing on the
implementation plan for KhulaDirect and the financing arrangements including
the reporting on the financing options for the implementation of KhulaDirect.
7.9. That
the National Lotteries Board briefs the Committee on the efficiency and
capacity of the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) at the start
of third quarter of this parliamentary session.
7.10. That the Department would have to brief the Committee regularly
on intra-COTII (Council of Trade and Industry Institutions) collaboration.
7.11. That the National Small Business Advisory Council will have to
brief the Committee on its activities.
7.12. That the National Gambling Board engages with the Committee on
the impact of its objectives on the socio-economic fabric of communities.
7.13. That the
Department of Economic Development should have continuous engagement with the
Portfolio Committee on Economic Development to speed up its establishment and
improve on its structure.
7.14. That the
Department of Economic Development should as agreed brief the Portfolio
Committee on Economic Development on its newly developed strategic plan,
proposed budget and short term programme during the third quarter of 2009.
7.15. That the Committee urges the DTI to establish the BEE Advisory
Council as provided in the Broad-based Black Economic Act (No. 53 of 2003).
8. Acknowledgements
The Committee
would like to thank participants from the Ministries of Economic Development
and of Trade and Industry, the DTI, IDC, Khula and other entities in the
respective meetings. The Committee would also like to thank the Members of the
Portfolio Committees on Economic Development and on Trade and Industry and the
Committee staff for their contributions in developing this report.
9. Recommendations
Based on its
deliberations, the Committee recommends that the House requests that:
9.1. The
DTI submits a detailed report on incentive payments and schemes to the
Committee within three months of the adoption of the report by the Assembly.
9.2. The
DTI submits a review of trade policy to the Committee within three months of
the adoption of the report by the Assembly.
9.3. The
DTI tables a progress report to the Committee on the development of the SACU/EU
interim EPA and the implications thereof for
9.4. That the DTI
submits to the Committee a report on the status, funding and development of the
nanotechnology and biotechnology research and/or product industry in South
Africa, and of any assistance, incentives and facilitation provided by the DTI
thereto, and that it does so within three months of the approval of this report
by the Assembly.
9.5. The
IDC reports to the Committee on its plan to alleviate the plight of companies
in distress and its involvement in large projects within six months of the
adoption of the report by the Assembly.
9.6. The
NLDTF tables
a report to the Committee on how it intends to establish the capacity and
ability to effectively and efficiently distribute the available funds to the
beneficiary sector, and provide the strategies on how the backlogs can be
corrected and distribution be improved within three months
of the adoption of the report by the Assembly.
9.7. Khula
Enterprise Finance Ltd provides the Committee with feedback regarding the
implementation plan of KhulaDirect, and that it tables a
report to the Committee on:
·
The profile of the retail finance
intermediaries in provinces within three months of the adoption of the report
by the Assembly.
·
How it improved access to finance within the
Report to be considered.