The National Development Plan (NDP) will be the highlight of the first breakaway session of the inaugural Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, which will be held, in Johannesburg, on May 28 and 29.

The indaba, hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), aims to encourage growth in the underperforming sector. 

The NDP panel at the Indaba would comprise senior government officials, business executives and academics.

The policy blueprint was aimed at eliminating poverty and reducing inequality in South Africa by 2030. It also highlighted the major constraints to faster growth and provided guidelines for a more inclusive economy to address the country’s socioeconomic imbalances.

Further, the NDP had identified 18 strategic integrated projects (Sips) to support economic development and tackle service delivery constraints. The Sips were expected to stimulate the country’s economy by providing new infrastructure and rehabilitate and upgrade existing infrastructure.

The NDP panel would focus on the future of manufacturing in Southern Africa, creating a healthy balance between international competition and dumping, transformation in the metals and engineering sector, South Africa and the NDP, and ways in which to finance the significant infrastructure backlog in the region.

The panel would analyse the NDP and discuss its economic opportunities, its possible impact on the South African economy and, particularly, on the manufacturing sector.

“The indaba will afford speakers and delegates an opportunity not only to participate and engage robustly with one another in a conference which will change the face of the sector in the region, but also to network and exchange ideas with industry peers and policymakers,” Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba said in a statement on Thursday.