Johannesburg - State owned enterprises (SOEs) will over the coming months increase their focus on infrastructure plans and training in efforts to play a role in government's New Growth Path (NGP).
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and his Public Enterprises counterpart Malusi Gigaba met the chairpersons and CEOs of SOEs on Friday to discuss these organisations' roles in the new growth path.
Government plans to create about 5 million jobs over the next ten years.
It says sectors such as manufacturing and infrastructure development will get more attention as they have the potential to create jobs.
In a statement, the Public Enterprises department said the meeting has resolved that SOEs should intensify their efforts to accelerate the pace of job creation and skills development and training in their respective sectors.
The SOEs will focus on infrastructure plans, numbers of jobs created in categories such as construction, maintenance, operation and supplier industries.
"The SOE will be critical in our efforts to improve our competitiveness, accelerate our infrastructure investment programmes and reduce the cost of doing business, thus laying the platform for long-term growth" Gigaba said.
"We must raise our investment levels on a sustainable and consistent basis if we are to support the State's developmental objectives."
Gigaba urged SOEs to also identify and pursue opportunities on the continent, and called for improved co-ordination between parastatals and government.
The SOEs will prepare their inputs on their contribution to the NGP, for further discussion at a two-day workshop to be held in early January.