The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) has appealed for more cohesion between government officials and municipalities as a means to tackle the challenges facing the Northern Cape, and to ensure sustainable economic growth for the area.
Speaking at the Northern Cape Small Business Support Forum in Kimberley last week, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nomalungelo Gina, reaffirmed the need for all stakeholders to work together.
“The responsibility is upon ourselves to ensure that we serve as a one-stop-shop that will cater for all the challenges that our stakeholders encounter in their efforts to become sustainable businesses.
“I can assure all today here that the challenges that you are encountering as small and emerging businesses – we will strive to reduce them,” she said.
She also rallied for the fortification of local economic development agencies to unlock opportunities within certain sectors and ease the means of which people conduct business.
The Forum - hosted by the dti and the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) – looked at measures to counter the challenges faced by small businesses regarding the accessing of funding, red tape, procurement problems and delivery of services to communities.
