Pretoria- The Department of Trade and Industry and the Swedish Trade Council have signed a Transformation Initiative to develop a coordinated and collective approach for Swedish companies to comply with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes of Good Practice.
The initiative will create a platform in which Swedish multinationals can jointly participate in high impact B-BBEE projects. It will also act as an independent, yet expertly managed vehicle through which Swedish multinationals can channel their B-BBEE investments said the department.
"This Transformation Initiative would provide Swedish Multinationals operating in South Africa a far more targeted approach in implementation of B-BBEE by providing them with the programmes that have gone through an approval process with the dti," said the department's Enterprise and Empowerment Division (EED) acting deputy director general, Sipho Zikode.
Commenting on the memorandum, Swedish Trade Commissioner, Jan Kettnaker, said, "This is a collective two-way approach where not only Swedish companies will come with projects. On 28 May there will be a follow-up information sharing session where companies will be introduced to the programmes in a more technical manner."
The Swedish ambassador to South Africa, Peter Tejler, said the initiative has already yielded positive results with an increase in the number of Swedish companies doing business in South Africa.
"We are not here for quick business, we are here for the long haul," said Tejler.
