The Township Economic Commission of South Africa held a dialogue in Soweto today saying it wants to be part of the BRICS Summit.
The Commission says with the informal sector only contributing six percent to GDP, there is ample opportunity for growth.
The dialogue gathered various entrepreneurs around the informal space who want to showcase their products and services during the BRICS Summit which will be held from the 22-24th of August at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Minister in the Presidency for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa says, “This time around, we are really excited that we are involved in this particular summit because all this that we are doing here are going to culminate in what will be discussed in the summit and the aftermath of what actually the summit will then now be able to say this is what we have been able to agree upon. Therefore, whatever it is that we do, we need to follow up on certain issues and Township Economy, I’m very excited will be the things that we will be following up on as it relates to the deliverables of the summit that will have taken place.”
Meanwhile, government leaders, state-owned companies and the private sector are all looking to the 15th BRICS Summit to produce powerful partnerships.
The BRICS business council is already hosting a number of stakeholder engagements. The BRICS Infrastructure Working Group says money is not the problem and that all stakeholders want to find bankable projects and close gaps standing in the way of this being practical and effective.
A lot is on the table and it seems to be whetting the appetites of other would-be partners.
SABC News international editor Sophie Mokoena explores this theme:
