National Electronics Week South Africa came to KwaZulu-Natal’s shores for the first time ever on 20 May. Organised in partnership with the Association of Representatives for the Electronics Industry (AREI), the one-day exhibition brought together the country’s leading suppliers to the electronic design and manufacturing sector, covering hardware and software solutions from components to production and test equipment, service providers and more.
The event was staged in a hall inside Durban’s striking Moses Mabhida Stadium, drawing visitors from the surrounding areas representing the public and private sectors. Reflecting AREI’s deepening engagement with government (the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in particular), the seminar track was keynoted by the DTI’s Chief Director: Advanced Manufacturing Aerospace & Defence Electrotechnical - Nomfuneko Majaja - followed by a presentation from Sizwe Mbanjwa of KZN Trade and Investment.
Ms. Majaja emphasised the efforts being made by the DTI to encourage domestic manufacturing, and called on delegates to take maximum advantage of interventions that have been made to support the sector through the development of trade regulations, industrial financing and tariff reviews. Initiatives include the Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme, the Export Marketing Investment Assistance Scheme, as well as partnerships, such as the South African Electrotechnical Export Council (SAEEC), which provide opportunities for international exposure.
Other efforts aimed at boosting the sector include the Public Preferential Procurement Act which mandates 75% overall local public procurement, with special areas of focus having greater or lesser targets. For example, electrical and telecoms cables have a 90% target, while set-top boxes (STB) for digital terrestrial television (DTT) have been set at a more disappointing 30%. Majaja also announced that the DTI is in the final stages of a project to recognise the local assembly of high-tech consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablet and personal computers.
Stressing the importance of continued transformation to meet BEE objectives, Mr Mbanjwa stated that it is critical that organisations move past the viewpoint of satisfying regulatory checklists, and become more proactive in putting black economic empowerment at the very heart of their business strategies. The benefits to those that embrace this philosophy, as he pointed out, take the form of exponentially greater business opportunities, in addition to more enthusiastic government facilitation and increased access to incentive schemes.
This latest running of National Electronics Week South Africa, the sixth edition in total, proved historic not only for its début appearance in KZN, but more so for its landmark address by the DTI. With the next edition likely to take place about a year from now in Johannesburg, this marked the first time, but hopefully not the last time, government pays a special visit to this long misunderstood but quietly defiant and relentlessly optimistic corner of the industry.
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