Publications
Partners
Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told Japanese officials during an official visit that the development of black industrialists was important for the advancement of South Africa’s economy.
Ramaphosa, who ended his official visit in Tokyo on Tuesday, led a high-level government and business delegation to promote “strategic political and economic relations” between the two nations.
“We want to create black industrialists and we gave them a history why we have got to create and develop black industrialists,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
Ramaphosa urged Japanese business representatives to seek out partners that they can work with “but at the same time we want to grow our own”.
In August 2014 the Department of Trade and Industry announced that it would create 100 black industrialists in the following three years.
Ramaphosa, who also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, addressed the Japanese Captains of Industry, an organisation boosting a membership of about 1 329 representative companies, 109 nation-wide industrial associations and 47 regional economic organisations.
Skills crisis
Ramaphosa also spoke about the shortage of skilled artisans and reflected on the crisis at the construction site of Eskom’s Medupi coal plant.
In April, specialised welders from Japan had to be brought in to fix welding faults.
“We said we don't see any reason why we don't have specialised welders ourselves,” Ramaphosa said.
According to Ramaphosa Japanese officials would look at the proposal to receive high level artisans to be trained at Japanese companies.
The delegation, which included Naledi Pandor (Science and Technology minister), Rob Davies (Trade and Industry), and Tina Joemat-Pettersson (Energy), also used the visit as an opportunity to promote trade.
“There are many other areas we want to start trading on with the Japanese,” Ramaphosa said.
South Africa would like to expand its trade in agricultural products and would benefit from Japanese skills in agro processing.
Ramaphosa also promoted the ocean economy while seeking to build a relationship with Japan’s marine capacity.
“They are well vest in ship building, marine transport, fisheries, aquaculture so we raised all these with them and said we want them to assist us to get into this and also to come and invest in those areas,” he said.
