Cape Town - The government's interventions to support the manufacturing sector are bearing fruit, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
He highlighted the contributions of the car manufacturing sector, stating that the Automotive Investment Scheme has unlocked private-sector investment of R24.5bn and generated exports of automotives and components of R103bn in 2013.
"We have built a world-class auto sector on the African continent exporting to over 152 countries."
Zuma also said the leather and footwear sector has shown tremendous growth to 60 million pairs of shoes, while exports grew by 18% with significant benefit to the balance of trade.
Zuma said this "is a very good story to tell indeed", taking into account that the manufacturing sector was hit hard by the global financial crisis.
He said the government committed more than R2.8bn to companies in the sector through the Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme, while manufacturers committed over R12.4bn in private-sector investment.
"In addition, to advance transformation, we have introduced the programme to find and develop Black Industrialists over three years," he said.
Given such success in manufacturing, South Africa is poised to make progress in its quest to ignite growth, Zuma added.