House Chairperson, hon members, the Minister described special economic zones with a definition, but in its simplest definition, a special economic zone is a geographical region which is designed to export goods and provide employment. According to the simplest form, it is a special area with special incentives designed as a special mechanism to help the country to achieve its development goals. And part of what the committee has done to amend this Bill is to make sure that it is accessible and provides a seamless structure to achieve its objectives.
There are many international examples of success stories in SEZs. Our international partners, such as China, also referred to by our chairperson, have established a number of SEZs with dramatic success in furthering economic development, creating jobs and promoting exports.
The Chinese SEZ programme began in 1980 when about five areas were designated in various provinces. Since then, many more have been established. These areas have great growth and the development dividend has been quite spectacular.
In India, the global crisis and the dramatic collapse of trade during 2008- 09, hurt exports in that country as in other emerging markets. The SEZs were the one source of solace for the economy, registering impressive growth in exports during that period.
If we consider the potential impact of this piece of legislation on our economy and, indeed, on the communities and the people that will be affected, it is a much anticipated Bill. However, the Bill is also, in a sense, a technical Bill because it provides all the designation of the zones, their promotion and development, and also for boards and the regulation issues around licences and permits. It is necessary that this House considers and passes legislation that is both progressive in terms of our national objectives and practicable and implementable.
Therefore, it is very encouraging that, although all the submissions that the committee received supported the concept of the SEZs, we received a number of important and thoughtful submissions to improve the concept from the public. One of the most frequently repeated issues was that the streamlining of structures in line with the accountability of the Bill be emphasised. The Bill has, therefore, been amended by the committee to account for some of these concerns.
In the Bill that we received, there was a good deal of confusion about the respective roles of the licensee and that of the operator. In the amended Bill, the committee has made numerous small changes and some substantial ones as well, acknowledging some of the problems and dealing with them.
Simply put, the process starts with an application from a government entity or a public private partnership to the Minister - which is important - for the designation of an area as an SEZ. The successful applicant then becomes a licensee and establishes an SEZ entity and a board, and this board, in turn, appoints an operator who must develop, manage and operate the zone. Businesses wishing to relocate to the area must apply to the operator, who must make recommendations to the board.
The committee spent considerable time on refining this process and, we believe, it is now a workable structure which will also fulfil the policy objectives of driving industrial and economic growth. In the Bill special attention is given to making it as simple as possible for businesses to apply to the operator of the zone to access the benefits.
One such imperative in clause 35 is the requirement that the operator of the zone must, and I quote, "facilitate a single point of contact or a one stop shop that delivers the required government services" and provides simplified procedures for setting up and conducting businesses in that SEZ. We hope that this might create a positive precedence for general application in our society for accessing government services.
The preamble of the Bill recognises that measures must be implemented to enhance domestic and regional demand, to attract foreign investment to our country while, at the same time, strengthening the South African industrial base and promoting a labour-absorbing industrialisation path. It envisages that the SEZs will be a mechanism that will contribute to the realisation of our economic growth and development goals.
The ANC supports this Bill. We believe it is a forward-looking piece of legislation, intended to focus on new sources of competitiveness that lie in innovation and productivity in the zones, supported by streamlined services and incentives. We trust that it will be supported in this House and quickly become law.
I just need to say that the opposition parties present some rather baffling arguments here. In the committee, they agree with almost everything, meekly, like pussy cats, but put them on this platform, and they come out all hell, fire and brimstone. This is a good Bill; politicking will not change it. Thank you very much. [Applause.]