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Johannesburg - The national development plan is an improvement on previous policy, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Monday.
"Sacci welcomes the publication of the national development plan (NDP) as an improvement in South Africa's economic policy framework," CEO Neren Rau said in a statement.
The document produced by the national planning commission provided some certainty on long-term economic strategy, he said.
"The NDP must ultimately address conflicting signals regarding economic policy and restore investor confidence."
Rau said public participation would be crucial in drafting the final version of the plan, which was presented to President Jacob Zuma on Friday.
A public consultation process would take place over the next six months before a final version of the plan could be presented to cabinet.
Sacci voiced concerns over some areas of the plan. This included how government projects in general and infrastructure in particular would be financed.
Rau drew attention to the need to fast track certain regulatory changes, such as labour legislation on dismissal procedures for poor performance and misconduct.
Putting the plan into practice was an overarching concern.
"The fact remains that government departments would ultimately have to give effect to the NDP, but experience (has) shown that these departments are mired in capacity challenges and fail to deliver upon existing mandates," he said.
"If the NDP cannot address the institutional problems of government departments, then it is unsure as to how effective it would be on the whole in facilitating economic growth in South Africa."
