First, acknowledge tourism is important; second, lift tourism’s status in Cabinet
Reigniting SA’s tourism economy is not just a question of money, it’s an issue of alignment and working together as a solid team
Renowned Harvard economics professor Robert Lawrence acknowledged the vital role of manufacturing to address inequalities within society, but very concisely and coherently dismissed the possibility of manufacturing providing a silver bullet for the labour-rich South African economy. At a seminar hosted by Deloitte and Wesgro, the Cape tourism agency, Lawrence also emphasised that whereas reindustrialisation is vital to an emerging economy, it has to be accompanied by increased productivity and a focus on exports — as opposed to import replacement. But job losses in manufacturing are still inevitable as a result of technology and business efficiencies. He expressed a great deal of concern that, other than in the Western Cape, SA — which he categorised, along with Brazil and Russia, as a diverging economy — has not as yet transitioned into being service sector-driven in a world that is increasingly services-orientated. The seminar took place, coincidentally, on the morning of the anno...
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