IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
New thinking needed for a collaborative manufacturing base
There are worrying trends and signs of stress in manufacturing
The government has identified the manufacturing sector as one of the lynchpins of its "new dawn" initiative to grow the economy, attract domestic and foreign investment and create employment. However, for manufacturing to be a key driver of this vision there has to be significant and continued government support through targeted fiscally sustainable incentives and policy interventions, to ensure the current decline is reversed. This is particularly important because SA has yet to develop a world-class and competitive manufacturing sector. Manufacturing has been sheltered, particularly during the predemocracy years. As a result there has not been significant investment in research and development or beneficiation of locally produced products. There are very few, if any, examples of manufacturers that are global success stories. There are worrying trends and signs of stress in manufacturing, where output has hardly recovered since the last recession in 2008/2009 while the sector’s con...
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