Speaker, the Minister of Economic Development recently announced that the Industrial Development Corporation has made record high industrial funding disbursements in 2012-13, saving around 4 000 jobs while creating over 18 000 new ones.
Despite difficult global and domestic economic circumstances, the ANC government was able to invest strongly in infrastructure, with about R200 billion invested in energy, transport and other key infrastructure. The economy created 199 000 new jobs while the gross domestic product, GDP, reached R3,2 trillion in value. These achievements are significant when many of our key trading partners are still languishing in recessions or weak economic recoveries.
Small business funding approvals also doubled compared to the previous year, rising to R432 million as the Small Enterprise Finance Agency completed its first year of operation and extended its footprint across the country. [Applause.]