Council confident SA will host successful 2010 world cup

The International Investment Council (IIC) has called on all sectors of the South African society to throw their weight behind the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Attended by President Thabo Mbeki, several Cabinet ministers and top business executives, the council met for its 11th meeting in Knysna in the Western Cape this weekend, to discuss ways to accelerate the country's economic growth.

President Mbeki's spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said the members were "enthusiastic", believing South Africa would host an extraordinarily successful world cup.

"They expressed commitment to helping South Africa wherever they can," added Mr Ratshitanga, saying the members were committed to sharing experiences whenever they were approached to do so.

Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi had presented to the members the country's plan to implement the soccer event.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel last week announced a R15 billion budget allocation to preparations for the FIFA event.

He said of that amount, R8.4 billion would go towards the building or upgrading of stadiums while R6.7 billion would be used to develop public transport infrastructure.

Members also noted that several factors made South Africa a unique country "with a rich history, heritage and enormous potential", said Mr Ratshitanga.

The Council also welcomed the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) Finance Minister Trevor Manuel presented to Parliament last Wednesday.

It noted the current "buoyant" economic conditions highlighted in the statement, in particular the trend towards a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment growth rates.

Mr Manuel told Parliament on Wednesday that South Africa's economy was creating jobs faster than new entrants were joining the labour force, for the first time in a generation.

Up to 540 000 new jobs were created in the past year while over the past three years, over one million jobs were created, due to "robust economic growth, supported by strong consumer spending and rising investor confidence".

The new entrants to the labour market are boosting household spending, along with a massive infrastructure spending programme by government and its associated public enterprises of about R370 billion over three years.

This, however, is also placing upward pressure on inflation. But Mr Manuel indicated that government was determined to stick to the 3 to 6 per cent inflation band, although inflation is expected to rise further over the next six months.

In this connection, the Council appreciated government's consistency in pursuing sound economic policies as well as efforts to strengthen sustained and shared growth to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.

The Council also reiterated its confidence in government's commitment and ability to achieve growth targets in terms of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA).

For this reason, Mr Ratshitanga said the council said conditions were conducive for the country to achieve its economic growth target of 6 percent by 2010.

Nevertheless, members emphasised the need for continued improvement in the quality of education and skills training.

Members also noted the importance of boosting exports to create sustainable employment, and discussed modalities of public-private partnerships in supporting industrial development strategies.

A progress report of the Jobs for Growth project was considered.

The initiative supports the development of rural production cooperatives based on the savings of poor rural people leveraged into investments by the Development Finance Institutions.

Council member, Percy Barnevik, is one of the drivers of the programme which is based on a project he is associated with in India.

The Council was also briefed about progress in terms of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) processes, especially as it concerns the support by the international community. - BuaNews