Patel, auto industry talk job creation

Source: pixabay.com

The Minister met industry reps recently as part of efforts to stimulate job creation and deepen the dialogue between the government and the auto sector.

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) on Sunday, 11 August 2019, said the business delegation to the meeting consisted of the chief executive officers of local vehicle manufacturers and the leadership of their association, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).

Patel stated the government's commitment to working in partnership with the industry in the implementation of the Automotive Masterplan 2035.

The masterplan's objective is to increase local content sharply from 39% to 60%, double annual car-production to 1.4 million units, expand employment opportunities to 224,000 people and to enhance the local industry's competitiveness.

Naamsa represents 41 members within the automotive sector consisting of the local original equipment manufacturers; importers and distributors of passenger and light commercial vehicles and local and international assemblers and manufacturers of heavy commercial vehicles (trucks and buses).

Meanwhile, the Minister is expected to deliver a keynote address at this year’s Naamsa Automotive Conference.

The conference is scheduled to take place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Johannesburg on 22 August.

The Naamsa Conference will be followed by the weekend-long Festival of Motoring event from 23-25 August 2019.

The Minister was accompanied by Deputy Ministers Nomalungelo Gina and Fikile Slovo Majola.