New policy to benefit SACU textile & apparel sector

27 Apr '12

1 min read

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is developing an industrial development policy in association with the Government of Botswana.

For the industrial development policy, textile and apparel sector has been identified as one of the priority sectors by SACU member nations namely, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Addressing stakeholders at a workshop in Gaborone, Director of industrial affairs at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ontlametse Ward said the policy would lead to generation of competitive business opportunities in the region.

He said that SACU members need to recognize collaborative business opportunities, while the private sector should lead the policy developments in the sector.

Joel Sentsho, Trade and Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said SACU is framing the industrial development policy in order to achieve equitable growth in the priority sectors.

He added that the task team for framing the policy is yet to identify collaboration opportunities for cross-border business.

He urged domestic businesses to identify growth opportunities in the SACU region and to take advantage from the same.

He said most of the raw material currently produced by Botswana is exported to South Africa, which benefits more than the former.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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