Local Economic Development (LED) Summit 2010
The ARP hosted its second LED Summit on the 17 February 2010 at
the Johannesburg Technical College in Alexandra
The Summit gave the broader Alex Community an opportunity to
interact with the Alexandra Renewal Project, the City of Johannesburg
and Gauteng Province on matters affecting local economic development
in Alexandra. The Greater Alexandra Development Forum (GADF)
and the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce (GACC) also presented
their perspectives.
Accelerated Programme of Action
One of the primary purposes of the Summit was to propose an
accelerated Local Economic Development Programme of Action (PoA) that
will take into account the economic circumstances in the area and
available resources for the programme's execution. It is important
that the accelerated PoA builds on a number of intergovernmental
initiatives in and around the Greater Alexandra so that its eventual
execution is not considered in isolation of other value-adding
programmes such as:
- Region E Economic Development Programme;
- Gautrain Station Economic Development Programme;
- Citywide Township Economic Development Programme;
- Some Urban Development Frameworks;
- The overall programme management of the ARP.
Summit Commissions
The Summit split into two Commissions to consider the following:
New Programmes:
These are programmes that may not have been in the original scope of
ARP LED design but are important and also linked to the continuity
programmes, namely:
- Marlboro South Industrial Park (Shared Industrial Facility);
- Marlboro Gautrain Station Precinct Development Plan;
- Alexandra Commercial Square;
- Greater Alexandra Investment and Marketing Programme;
- Economic institutions mainstreaming and ARP Economic development
capacity.
Continuity Programmes:
These are all the programmes that are still relevant in Alexandra and
must continue to be supported, namely:
- Tourism development;
- The Manufacturing Cluster;
- The Retail Cluster;
- The Construction Cluster;
- Economic Support Services.
Collective Effort
It was evident throughout the Summit proceedings that to change the
investor profile of Alexandra the collective efforts of both
intergovernmental and private sector bodies are needed to drive the
successful implementation of the Accelerated Programme of Action. The
PoA is intended to recognise the fact that whilst the existing
economic development programmes in Greater Alexandra (i.e. the
Clusters) are still pertinent, acceleration efforts need to be
applied to give currency and momentum to these programmes.
Way forward
The objectives going forward were summarised in brief as:
- A strong appeal to government that big developers become project
managers, and Local Contractors be employed permanently as an
integral part of the bigger process;
- Improve CIDB grading;
- Improve monitoring and evaluation;
- Formation of Cooperatives;
- Key partners must work together;
- Encourage value-chain production, linkages and diversify.
In essence, a more hardcore economic infrastructure is essential to
Alexandra's long-term success.
|
