I'd like to begin by reflecting briefly on the key challenges in the economic Development & Tourism portfolio. Last month, in a speech, the Premier captured the essence of what faces us as follows, and I quote:

" ? the two key issues confronting our people [are] creating work and confronting poverty."

My Ministry and Department find ourselves in the front line in the battle to create sustainable jobs and economic growth. And, everything we do will, naturally, contribute considerably to reducing poverty and creating a better life for all our people. Failure to do what is required to grow our economy could only mean misery and more poverty for our people.

The challenge to implement the right policies that lead to job creation and economic growth is therefore enormous. At present, unemployment in our Province stands at around 24 percent. This translates into roughly 500 000 people, mainly in the townships and rural areas. Some 80 percent of the unemployed are the youth.

In general there are fewer jobs for lower-skilled workers and the decline in employment opportunities for this group is continuing.

Perhaps most critical, is the need to address the very low success rate for African job seekers in the Western Cape. The actual Provincial rate is about 10 percent of the success rate for African job seekers nationally.

In the Primary Sector [Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing] and in the Secondary Sector [Manufacturing] growth and employment is either stagnant or in decline.

This is not peculiar to the Western Cape. It is in fact a global trend.

As part of my Department's endeavours to develop a Micro-economic development Strategy for the Province, an exercise was undertaken using an economic instrument to plot the trajectory of 50 sectors and sub-sectors in the Western Cape economy over the next five years.

It was assumed, for the purposes of the exercise, that there would be no government intervention in the economy. The overall conclusion supported by academics participating in the exercise was:

"The outlook is grim" particularly for lower skilled workers.

Points of Departure:

We therefore need the government to act in concert with its partners in business, the labour movement and civil society, in order to build a common vision for promoting rising levels of growth, investment, job creation and people-centred development.

This vision should be aimed at making the Western Cape:

[a] A destination of first choice for investors whilst retaining and expanding social equity and fair labour standards.

[b] A productive economy with high levels of service, a highly skilled workforce and modern systems of work organization and management.

[c] A society in which there are economic opportunities for all, poverty is eradicated, income equalities are reduced and basic services are available to all.

[d] A society in which our people, our most precious resource, are given the opportunity and support to develop to their fullest potential.

[e] A society that promotes the values of social equity, fairness and human dignity in the global economy.

This is not actually something that was dreamt up overnight. I have adapted the Vision contained in the national GDS document for the purposes of the Province.

Secondly, even to the lay economist, it is not difficult to do the basic arithmetic to help understand the scale of the challenge we face.The Provincial GDS Framework Agreement promises 100 000 net new jobs in the next five years.

If current labour market trends continue, we will have to create an extra 105 000 jobs over the same period to deal with the growth in unemployment. Which means we will need to create 205 000 new jobs in the next five years, if we intend to keep our promise contained in the Provincial GDS Framework Agreement.

The 5-year Plan:

Against this background we need to develop a comprehensive WC Socio-economic Development Strategy that:

• unifies all Provincial policies, strategies & mandates,
• blends seamlessly into national policies, strategies & mandates and
• adapts constantly to relevant global trends.

This is the task being undertaken by the entire Provincial Government of the Western Cape and is essential for effectiveness in our work.

Our part of such a strategy is to develop and continuously update a comprehensive, detailed, intellectually sound, and widely agreed Micro-economic Strategy [MES] for the Province, which will inform all interventions made by the Provincial Government in the economy.

We also need to continuously implement major interventions flowing from the MES in conjunction with social partners and other spheres of government in a manner that crowds in all available domestic and international resources required for success.

Interventions arising from the Micro-Economic Strategy will fall into five main categories and these are:

• Sector based - we need to know sectors with the potential for growth and job creation,
• Theme based - we need to develop strategies and interventions that cut across sectors
• Economic Participation Promotion - SMME's need access to finance and black people must also own the economy
• Economic stimulation - we need to support export initiatives and attract investment
• And Regional Development Initiatives - we have to devise development plans for sub-regions of the Province.

These initiatives and interventions are important if we are to make a meaningful contribution improving the lives of all our people in the Province.

Over the next few months the detail about these interventions will be revealed. This however can only be done if we work in partnership with you.

If anything, my message today reaffirms the Provincial Government's commitment to making the Western Cape the best home for all our people. But I am also saying as government we cannot do it alone.