PORT ELIZABETH, October 2 (ANA) - The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Dedat), will host the Small, Medium and Micro business support forum (Forum) at the Sol Plaatjie local municipality in Kimberley on Friday.
The dti said in a statement on Wednesday that "the Forum was born out of the realisation that small businesses continuously struggled on matters of accessing resources, infrastructure, skills development, red tape and procurement problems".
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nomalungelo Gina, said the Forum could provide "support and countermeasures to these challenges".
She further said the exercise was "in line with the mandate of the dti to provide support to provinces towards job creation and economic growth".
“It is through this Forum that we seek to create a platform wherein government sectors and development finance institutions exhibit and communicate their services to business owners that will be attending the event" Gina said.
We will also assist and provide tailor-made information as well as resolving challenges raised by individual businesses,” she says.
Gina said the Forum would interact with challenges specifically encountered by Sol Plaatjie local municipality-based Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), as well as look at ways of unlocking local economic development opportunities and difficulties.
“The Forum will discuss key services such as business registration, business plan development, business mentoring and coaching, obtaining markets access and financial and non-financial support from the dti agencies,” Gina says.