Minister predicts positive trade and industry impact from SONA 2016
South Africa President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address would be welcomed by investors, the country’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said on Thursday night.
Additionally, Davies predicted that SONA would impact positively on the department’s related sectors.
“If the speech is properly unpacked and analysed, it should be sending the right kind of signals,” Davies said.
Davies said although the matters would be unpacked in depth during the upcoming budget speech, there were a number of highlights.
He said that the country would be dealing with a “tight budget” but that Zuma’s announced cost-cutting measures were “quite significant”.
These measures included a cutback on government banquets and junkets as well as travelling costs.
Davies also made mention of the planned “one-stop shop”, a programme designed to boost investment in South Africa.
The one-stop shop, or Invest SA initiative, which Davies said would help reduce red tape, was aimed at presenting the country as “open for business”.