Chairperson, economic development has been defined as the reduction or elimination of poverty, inequality and unemployment within the context of a growing economy. The central aim of this department is to increase the number of decent jobs in the economy. The ACDP is fully supportive of these worthy aspirations. The million dollar question is, of course, how to achieve this.
According to the strategic plan, the department will have a "cross-cutting" role, straddling many departments. Last year there was great uncertainty about who bears the ultimate responsibility for formulating economic policy, a function given to National Treasury in terms of the Public Finance Management Act. That uncertainty persists today.
There is also a considerable degree of overlapping with regard to, for example, the stated aims of "evaluating macroeconomic and microeconomic policy tools and improving their alignment" and doing economic modelling. These are already a core function of National Treasury. There also appears to be some overlap with the National Planning Commission and the functions of the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac.
The question arises: Is there not a danger that economic policy may become "deharmonised" in the process, or will this department's co-ordinating function prevent this? Clearly, a harmonised economic policy that provides certainty and predictability is crucial to attracting foreign investment, particularly in a climate of global economic uncertainty.
The Minister is to take responsibility for developing a new growth path for the economy. The challenge, then, will be to get buy-in from all social sectors and to obtain the resources to fund this model. As far as the former is concerned, let us be reminded what the chief executive officer of Business Leadership South Africa said recently:
South Africa is not making sufficient progress because there is no shared vision that prioritises growth as a national goal. The first step would be for society, led by government, but with business, labour and civil society in close support, to agree on a vision of doubling the size of the economy within a generation.
The ACDP agrees with this. Last year we called on various sectors, on all the social sectors, to enter a social pact, which the Minister referred to earlier; a shared vision. The framework agreement on the international economic crisis was the first step in this regard. We believe that much more can be done. We believe a social pact, based on patriotism, can be achieved. To conclude, the ACDP believes that as far as funding is concerned, we should be cautious about exploiting retirement funds. Developing bonds may be a feasible alternative option to attract foreign and domestic investors. We support an economic policy that is aimed at enabling a sustainable growth path that broadens the economic net and absorbs the high level of unemployed work seekers. The department faces huge challenges to achieve this, and we as the ACDP wish the Minister and the Deputy Minister well in this regard. I thank you. [Applause.]