A FIRST FOR SOUTH AFRICA
2011-05-12
The Province of KwaZulu-Natal is the first to launch an Investment Protocol handbook in South Africa.
The Investment Protocol Handbook serves as a guide to various business policies and processes within KwaZulu-Natal, with particular focus on the ease and cost of doing business with regard to local and foreign investments.
MEC for the Department of Economic Development and Tourism KZN, Mr Michael Mabuyakhulu together with Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal hosted the Investment Protocol Launch on 11 May 2011 at the Hilton Hotel in Durban. MEC Mabuyakhulu said, "As the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the country, we have - over the past few years - made a sustained focus on removing bottlenecks and to ensure efficiencies in order to ensure that our province becomes the investment destination of choice".
The handbook covers issues such as:
(i) the regulatory environment,
(ii) the processes involved to comply with the regulations,
(iii) the cost of doing business, and
(iv) the length of time it takes to conclude the compliance processes.
A definite need for the handbook was highlighted by Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal due to the many challenges experienced by both service providers and their clients in the past. The Investment Protocol Handbook now provides a platform for a mutual level of understanding and transparency within the business environment which will ensure that all parties adhere to the same rules and regulations while the duration of previously lengthy processes may be shortened.
Compiled and published by Trade & Investment KZN (TIKZN), The Investment Protocol Handbook is not a be-all-and-end-all document. The processes documented in this booklet provide an overall view and will differ from project to project, depending on the project size and the sector in which they are implemented. This notwithstanding, the protocol is an up-to-date reflection of the processes and will be further updated at least annually so as to ensure information relevance and assist business decision-making.
Having noticed that revision and simplification of processes is a long process itself, TIKZN has developed a proposed framework or building block towards dealing with this challenge, which plan is envisaged to ultimately lead to the achievement of this resolution.
Submitted on behalf of Zamo Gwala, CEO, Trade and Investment KZN
Contact Person: Analeah Royeppen
Position: Communications Officer
Tel: 27 31 368 9600
Cell: 083 483 2279
Fax: 086 500 9862
Email: analeah@tikzn.co.za