Two key elements in President Mbeki`s recent address to parliament were the overall review of the economy - which proved more upbeat than expected - and the emphasis on high-tech sectors of industry which are seen as critical to the government`s new micro-economic policy.
The President announced the formation of a Presidential International Task Force on Information, Society and Development, with a list of CEOs from major international corporations and experts in the fields of information and communications technology who will constitute this forum.
First on the list was Larry Ellison of Oracle, followed by Carly Fiorina of Hewlett-Packard. Other major players included, among others, Serge Tchuruk of Alcatel, South African-born David Porter of Psion, Dr Jung of Siemens and Mark Shuttleworth of Thawte Consulting.
"On behalf of the government and all our people, I would like to thank all of them for their unequivocal commitment to helping our country to get onto, and stay on, the information super-highway," said Mbeki. Part of the process will, no doubt, be the managed privatisation of state-controlled telecommunications infrastructure, which was also referred to during the speech.
Lenore Kerrigan, MD of Oracle South Africa, sums up the local industry reaction. "We at Oracle are delighted that our CEO, Larry Ellison, has been invited to serve on Thabo Mbeki`s IT task force and help define the government`s strategy on this critical sector for the future. The government`s move to engage the world`s `technology thought-leaders` will have a positive impact on all business in South Africa."
This announcement by the President was a boost for Oracle`s ongoing commitment to help bridge the "digital divide" and the company`s belief that South Africa can serve as an example and support base for the rest of the continent in terms of IT leadership.
As was clearly stressed in the state of the nation address, the IT sector is a key factor in enabling business success in a global market with the added benefit of positive social improvements throughout the community.
Oracle has been active in social responsibility programmes for some time and firmly believes in making a sustained investment to develop the human resources to enable South Africa to maintain a leading position in the IT sector. The company is certain that the new government focus on telecoms liberalisation and the benefits of following global trends in e-business, e-commerce and even e-government will have a positive impact on education and social upliftment for all the country`s communities.
Hewlett-Packard shares the same viewpoint and objectives, as stated by Jos Nickmans, MD of HP South Africa.
"The invitation to join the President`s International Task Force is clearly an honour that Hewlett-Packard has accepted with gratitude - in fact, those sentiments are sincerely shared by our chairman, president and CEO, Carly Fiorina.
"As a company, we have been working towards helping meet South Africa`s economic and socio-cultural challenges since we re-established our direct presence in 1997. We are focusing heavily on black economic empowerment, social responsibility, industrial participation and the local implementation of our world e-Inclusion initiative," Nickmans says.
"We have tangible education, empowerment, information sharing, skills transfer and skills development projects in place that assist previously disadvantaged South Africans. We are also key players in the government`s industrial participation programme, helping to build quality local and black-empowerment businesses and we sponsor myriad social responsibility initiatives through a substantial local fund.
"In addition, through e-Inclusion, we are working with a broad range of local and global partners to invent and integrate the necessary technology, products, services and processes to bring sustainable solutions to the previously-disadvantaged market. These include helping to establish computing and Internet access in rural areas."
The President gave good news on the business front, pointing out that, during the past year, the economy continued to improve in an impressive manner and anticipating that a strong base has been created for an even better performance this year. "Reflecting the truth of real increased business confidence, Nedcor`s register of capital projects of more than R20 million showed an increase from R22 billion in 1999 to R48 billion last year," Mbeki said.
"Our country jumped 14 places in the World Economic Forum`s Global Competitiveness Report 2000, rising from 47 out of 49 countries surveyed in 1999 to 33 out of 59 in last year`s report (2000)."
Along with a record balance of payments surplus, this augurs well for government plans. "The objectives we seek to achieve are moving the economy onto a high-growth path, increasing its competitiveness and efficiency, raising employment levels and reducing poverty and persistent inequalities," Mbeki said.
While the overall initiative includes agriculture, tourism, specific export sectors and cultural industries, the speech showed a welcome emphasis on the information and communications sectors as important facilitators for social upliftment.
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