Manufacturing Circle says the sector is still fragile
MANUFACTURING, one of the pillars of the South African economy and the country’s fourth-biggest sector, is not out of the woods yet, despite better-than-expected production data for June.Philippa Rodseth, executive director of the Manufacturing Circle, an industry body representing local manufacturers, said in an interview last week that the sector remained fragile and no material change was expected in the short term.Crucially, manufacturers did not expect to create much employment either — this is cause for concern because the sector has been identified as one of the key industries that could jumpstart growth.SA is in the unique position of being the most competitive economy on the continent, but the country trails its global peers. Deloitte’s 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness index found that despite SA being the most competitive country in Africa in terms of manufacturing, globally it fell three places to 27th.READ THIS: WATCH: Africa’s manufacturing potentialAfrica Inc...
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