This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
Western Cape Economic Development MEC, Allan Winde, says the George Municipality is aiming for an annual economic growth rate of 8%
Speaking in the Western Cape provincial legislature Thursday, Minister Winde outlined the Municipality plans to stimulate the local economy throught its Local Econmic Development strategy initiated last yer.
The LED programme included the introduction of a Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage tool, that allows for the speedy appraisals of proposals aimed at stimulating the local economy.
"The George Municipality aims for an annual economic growth rate of 8%, focusing on retaing and expanding established businesses in the municipal area through the BR&E exercise mentioned above; investment in the appropriate infrastructure for the next 10 - 15 years to accommodate current and new business activities; stimulating the Finance and Business Services Sector, promoting the Agro-processing sector and the Manufacturing sector as well as Tourism development, specifically sport and business tourism; stimulating green industry, particularly solar energy; and potentially enlisting Uniondale as a Comprehensive Rural Development Programme," Winde said.
He also said that the Department of Economic Development and Tourism plays an active role in stimulating this economy by assisting local municipalities to build institutional capabilities.
"Specifically, we have provided the following support: We have performed an LED Maturity Assessment on George through the use of a LED diagnostics tool to assess the sustainability and responsiveness of the municipality's plans to local priorities; we have assisted in the improvement of the (Eden) district-level LED Forum which supports effective inter-governmental relations on projects and programmes. George has benefitted from this by proactively pursuing cross-border collaborations with its neighbour," he said
Winde added that his Department "provides access to capacity building interventions and LED tools, including PACA and BR&E, that attempt to address capacity and competency skills gaps with training, and access and tools that support local economic development; addresses specific requests from George Municipality - for example facilitating cross-border discussion and collaboration between Mossel Bay and Knysna Municipalities around common economic issues that affect the region."
"We also support the municipality's in the planning/designing of joint interventions such as the establishment of an ICT - BPO incubator in George; status of the George Airport, the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe; the need to engage the district and the other local municipalities for more sustainable planning and development, red tape reduction initiatives, access to Special Economic Zones information, etc."
"On the ICT - BPO incubator in George the Department has co-developed the business case to establish an ICT incubator to support SMME's in the ICT sector in collaboration with SEDA. SEDA will fund the establishment of the incubator and the Department of Economic Development will fund projects in the incubator that are aligned to our priorities," Winde said.
