JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Government of National Unity (GNU) and the business sector on Wednesday pledged to work together to address the country's pressing issues, including boosting economic growth, creating jobs, improving port logistics, and fighting corruption and crime.
This commitment followed a meeting Tuesday between President Cyril Ramaphosa and business leaders to tackle these challenges facing the 7th administration. Following the meeting's decisive outcomes, the agreed-upon initiatives will be rolled out over the next 12 to 18 months.
In a statement issued by the presidency Wednesday, Ramaphosa confirmed that government and business leaders from various sectors, including energy and logistics, agreed to partner in tackling these challenges.
"The GNU has reaffirmed its commitment to urgently implement the reform agenda started by the 6th administration and to restore confidence and sentiment -- essential drivers of investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation," he said.
Ramaphosa also said since the cooperation commenced last year, progress has been made, especially in the energy sector.
"We have reaffirmed our commitment to a dynamic partnership between government and business to foster South Africa's economic growth and social advancement. Since the start of the partnership just over a year ago, we have made substantial progress toward stabilizing the energy sector, improving the performance of our rail and port system, and strengthening the fight against crime and corruption," the president said.
According to the statement, Adrian Gore, co-convenor of the business delegation, welcomed the partnership, announcing that over 130 chief executive officers pledged support, and the business sector invested more than 260 million rands (about 14.4 million U.S. dollars) and mobilized over 350 experts across the three focal areas in the first phase.
He was also quoted as saying that the reduction of the energy crisis in the past few months would boost economic growth. "Continued momentum could mean we are able to achieve 3 to 5 percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth by 2030. We will be launching the second phase of our partnership with this ambition in mind," Gore said.
"As we move forward with this partnership, we will intensify our work to address these pressing issues and expand our efforts to drive employment creation. We know that the challenges ahead are formidable. But with our continued partnership, we are well-equipped to navigate these complexities and contribute to sustainable growth for South Africa," concluded Ramaphosa in the statement. ■