Dti singles out rail manufacturing for sector-specific initiatives

The Department of Trade
and Industry has identified
railway manufacturing for
the development of sectorspecific
initiatives along
the lines of its automotive
development programmes.
Trade and Industry
Minister Dr Rob Davies
told FTW on the sidelines
of an American Chamber
of Commerce (AmCham)
networking breakfast
recently that there had been
“significant” investment
in railway manufacturing
in recent years, which is
why this sector – along
with agro-processing – had
been identified for the
development of sectorspecific
initiatives.
The eighth iteration of the
Industrial Policy Action Plan
(IPAP) – officially launched
by Davies earlier this month
– has a higher-impact
industrialisation policy
which includes more sectorspecific
initiatives.
“We’ve seen the success
that the Automotive
Production and
Development (APDP)
programme – launched
by the Department of
Trade and Industry (dti)
in January 2013 – has had
in stimulating industrial
investment and development
in the sector,” said Davies.
The minister pointed
to the announcement last
month of the R2.5-billion
investment by United States
Ford Motor Company to
expand operations at its
Silverton assembly plant in
Pretoria as an example of
how the APDP programme
had reaped rewards.
“Why are the big car
makers continuing to
invest in South Africa?
Because they’ve had a
good experience here –
with our local production
plants winning major
international awards here,”
said Davies. The weaker
rand also benefited the
local automotive producers
by boosting its exports, he
added.
“We haven’t developed the
programmes yet but have
begun the process,” he said,
noting that the two sectors
would also still be supported
by the generic incentives.
“We will still have the
generic programmes, but
we recognise the fact that
sector-focused programmes
deliver better results, and so
we are focused on developing
more targeted initiatives.”
INSERT & CAPTION
We haven’t developed
the programmes yet
but have begun the
process.
– Dr Rob Davies