Cape Town - The organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday released its
Economic Survey of South Africa, which identified priority areas for future
action.
The survey suggests that South
Africa should consider the following
structural policy reforms for it to meet its inclusive growth agenda: that the
country opens up key sectors including telecommunications, energy, transport
and services to more competition.
It further encourages the country to have a wider
development of apprenticeship and internship programs and streamline the labour
dispute system to increase flexibility and lower barriers to job
creation.
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Monday that steps
have been taken to ease starting a business and the Department of Small
Business Development is currently addressing the red tape associated with
starting a small business through simplification of procedures
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“We agree with the observations made in the 2017 Economic
Survey that, among others, boosting entrepreneurship and growing small
businesses will contribute to creating jobs. The government is in the process
of finalising a complementary government fund aimed at financing Small, Medium
and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the start-up phase, ” he said.
“We further agree with the observation that the quality of
the education system and lack of work experience contributes to gaps in
entrepreneurial skills and, in that regard, government policies will provide
more support for entrepreneurs and small businesses,” Gigaba said.
The OECD survey also found that the quality of South Africa's
education system and lack of work experience has contributed to gaps in
entrepreneurial skills and suggested there was scope to broaden the sources of
finance and ensure that government policies provide both financial and
non-financial support for small businesses.
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