The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will be hosting the 2^nd National Industrial Parks Symposium at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in Midrand from 11-12 October 2017. The symposium will serve as a platform where the dti will engage key stakeholders linked to the administration and management of state-owned industrial parks.

The 2017 Symposium which carries the theme The Association of Industrial Parks follows up on the successful hosting of the inaugural symposium in 2016 where a case was made to bolster the approach followed by management agencies of industrial parks.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies says that it was at the 2016 Symposium where it was determined that industrial parks needed to follow a cluster-based methodology which would promote growth and competitiveness of the firms operating in the industrial parks.

“To follow up on the achievements made in 2016 we have ensured that for the 2017 Symposium we mobilise stakeholders comprising of provincial departments, municipalities, industrial park agencies, academia and the private sector to engage meaningfully about the manner in which the development of industrial parks should proceed,” says Davies.

The Symposium will feature content from prominent speakers that promote the key functions of the impending association of industrial parks.

“The 2017 Symposium will serve as a starting-point for establishing measures, and rational steps to ensure growth and long-term sustainability of industrial parks. As in the case of the previous Symposium the intention remains one that produces interactive engagement between speakers and delegates; and as a result generates tangible steps towards the development of our state-owned Industrial Parks,” says Davies.