South Africa wraps up "successful" programme at Davos

Team South Africa has concluded what it termed “a successful programme” at the just-ended 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Presidency said on Sunday.President Jacob Zuma led a high-powered Team South Africa delegation to deliver the message that South Africa “is open for business to global investors and other stakeholders.”

The Davos delegation included Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi.

Team South Africa also included South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and captains of industry from various business sectors to leverage the presence of international business, analysts and politicians in Davos to assure the global community of the country’s commitment to maintaining policy certainty, fiscal discipline, macro-economic stability and the promotion of inclusive growth and development, the Presidency said.

In a statement, the high office added: “The current global economic challenges require South Africa to develop a robust and responsive set of measures to ensure economic stability. The message was advocated by Team South Africa consistently to delegates in Davos.”

During the forum, Team South Africa had high-level interactions as well as bilateral discussions, with Zuma hosting global investors during a session of the Business Interaction Group (BIG) on South Africa.

During this session the president emphasised South Africa’s commitment to policy certainty by announcing the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Investments and a one-stop inter-ministerial clearing house to facilitate support for investors, the Presidency said.

APA