JOHANNESBURG - South Africa has won an investment promotion award at an annual summit in Dubai in recognition of its facilitation of the most innovative and digitally orientated investment projects for 2018.
The April 8 - 10 summit has attracted investment promotion agencies from around the world and government officials, practitioners and investors from 140 countries to discuss the theme of mapping the future of foreign direct investment (FDI) and enriching economies through digital globalization.
Trade and industry minister Dr Rob Davies said the award given to InvestSA -- a division of the department which supports investors exploring opportunities in South Africa -- reaffirmed the commitments announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his state of the nation address to align the country’s economic development priorities to securing investment projects in the digital and technology fields.
Davies said South Africa was renowned for protecting investor rights and was a signatory to international treaties reinforcing trade in goods and services and safeguarding intellectual property.
"Policy certainty on the South African ICT (information and communications technology) landscape and noticeable improvements on FDI ranking indices have underpinned the strides South Africa has made in securing investment in digital, ICT and 4th industrial revolution industries," he said.
InvestSA would continue to lead efforts in improving the investment digital infrastructure environment, facilitating digital skills development initiatives and addressing supply side constraints to enhance the attractiveness of the sector, Davies added.
"South Africa’s investment mobilisation drive is gaining traction and the latest data from the South African Reserve Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicates a major increase in foreign direct investments from previous years," the trade minister said.
UNCTAD recently awarded South Africa the top global award for excellence in boosting investment sectors that have social and economic benefits and help countries meet the Sustainable Development Goals, a collection of 17 global targets set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030.