Bill ‘won’t scare off investors’
SA’s trade department moves to alleviate concerns over the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill.
|||Cape Town - Trade and industry director-general Lionel October has maintained that despite concerns raised by various business organisations about the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, to date there had been no disinvestment, or even a threat to do so.
“We roll out the red carpet to investors. And we’ve been very successful,” he told the parliamentary trade and industry committee on Wednesday, adding the domestic automotive sector had seen a R20 billion investment.
“I just want to put to bed any concerns that we are reducing levels of protection, that there is any flight of investment.
“Volkswagen announced a R4bn investment last week, and that is after the German bilateral agreement expired.”
October was speaking during Wednesday’s departmental response to the public hearings on the draft law, which on Tuesday was criticised by business organisations representing South African and foreign interests for creating an unfriendly investor climate which could see, particularly, foreign investors turning their sights elsewhere on the African continent.
Reservations came from the Banking Association of South Africa, Anglo American, and the American Chamber of Commerce and its European Union counterpart.
As the committee sat, BMW announced its continued presence and investment in South Africa.
Committee chairwoman Joan Fubbs made much of this as did the dti officials, who also drew attention to the World Economic Forum ranking of South Africa in the top 10 of 144 countries for its investment protection measures.
The Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill establishes a uniform framework for investment, in line with the National Development Plan’s objective of promoting investment and export growth to stimulate sustainable growth and development, as it provides security and protection equally to foreign and domestic investors while government confirms its sovereign right to regulate in the public interest and for constitutionally-driven national development objectives.
Political Bureau
CAPE ARGUS