The second Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialization Week kicked off on Monday 31st July 2017 Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa under the theme; Partnering with the Private Sector in Developing Industry and Regional Value Chains'.
In his official opening remarks South Africa's Director General in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr. Kgabo Mahoa said the adoption of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap will help in addressing the ongoing challenge that Africa faces namely; the transitioning from a commodity-driven growth path to value adding, knowledge based industrial economies.
Mr Mahoai said the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap adopted by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in 2015 sets out three potential growth paths, namely agro-processing; mineral beneficiation and downstream processing; and service driven value chains.
"The paths are mutually supporting and inclusive, encompassing the combination of downstream value addition and backward integration of the upstream provision of inputs, intermediate items and capital goods," said Mahoai, adding that deeper regional integration is an essential pre-requisite for the development of regional value chains and their integration into global value chains.
The SADC industrialization week is being co-hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry South Africa (DTI) and the Department of International Relations and Corporation (DIRCO) on behalf of the South African government in partnership with the SADC Secretariat and the Southern Africa Business Forum (SABF).
The SADC Industrialization Week is an annual regional public-private engagement platform aimed at fostering new opportunities for intra-regional trade and investment.
