https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Business|Products
Business|Products
business|products

Coca-Cola to contribute R240m to Buy Local campaign, govt looks to slash import bill

9th March 2021

By: Yvonne Silaule

Contributor

     

Font size: - +

To support the local economy, beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola has committed to make R240-million available over the next three years to drive the Buy Local campaign.

This forms part of an agreement concluded with the competition authorities last year.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on March 9 told delegates at the Proudly South African Summit and Expo, in Cape Towns, that the contribution would help in monitoring implementation gaps and identifying new opportunities for scaling up production of locally made goods.

“To address the availability of locally-produced products, we now have a number of commitments from the business community and retailers to partner with us on the localisation campaign. To address the need for larger markets, the President launched the start of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area, to enable scale efficiencies to kick in.

“We have reached an agreement now in the National Economic Development and Labour Council to work together to make locally many products we [currently] import. Our non-oil import bill in 2019 was R1.1-trillion. We are setting ourselves the target over a five-year period, to reduce that by 20%.

"That would entail bringing R200-billion back into local production, adding up to 4% to our gross domestic product and creating many, many more jobs for young South Africans,” the Minister said.

He reiterated that it was about time South Africans started buying local.

“Wearing a local suit, eating local fruit and promoting local music and film is what this campaign is all about."

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

VEGA Controls SA (Pty) Ltd
VEGA Controls SA (Pty) Ltd

For over 60 years, VEGA has provided industry-leading products for the measurement of level, density, weight and pressure. As the inventor of the...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Immersive Technologies
Immersive Technologies

Immersive Technologies is the world's largest, proven and tested supplier of simulator training solutions to the global resources industry.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.084 0.137s - 178pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now