Question NW3572 to the Minister of Trade and Industry
28 September 2015 - NW3572
Figg, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
(1) Considering the usefulness of visiting other countries and learning lessons from their practices and experiences, (a) how many days has he spent out of the country in (i) 2014 and (ii) since 1 January 2015, (b) which countries did he visit and (c) what useful lessons did he learn; (2) (a) have any of the useful lessons learnt been implemented in South Africa and (b) did the specified lessons yield positive results; if not, why not in each case; if so, what were the results in each case? NW4239E
Reply:
(1) and (2) After years of international isolation because of Apartheid policies, South Africa was accepted into the global community with the onset of democracy in 1994. Responding to these new opportunities was a strategic imperative of the new democratic government in order to build mutually beneficial regional and global relations to advance South Africa’s trade, industrial policy and economic development objectives. All the working visits detailed below in Annexure A were undertaken in support of this strategic imperative; which in turn yielded a number of notable outcomes.
For further detailed information regarding the working visits and these outcomes, the Honourable Member is advised to consult the dti Annual Report 2013/2014 and several previous Parliamentary Questions on the same matter.