Hon Speaker, SADC has plans which are designed to deepen the regional integration which in turn will be taken further to deal with not just regional integration in terms of SADC, but in terms of the continent. And they have been there all the time. There are five economic regions of the continent. As you would be aware, three of these regions are, in fact, integrating precisely for that kind of reason. So, there are those kinds of issues that have been ongoing.
As a country we have in essence been - by embracing this plan or coming up with this plan - saying to ourselves that we need to grow our own economy, particularly if we take South Africa as having a bigger economy in the region and on the continent. We need to have our economy growing bigger. We can grow bigger and more quickly if we have a plan that we all work on to strengthen and advance as a country.
The National Development Plan states that by 2030 we should, for example, have been able to eliminate a lot of challenges that we have today and have a stronger consolidated economy within the country. It means, whether we play a role in SADC or on the continent, we are better placed on a different kind of a level. So, that is where it features in terms of fitting in and dovetailing the plans that are either regional in terms of one region or regions of the continent. Certainly, the plan itself helps South Africa's economy to move even faster and in a more advanced fashion as a much stronger and co-ordinated kind of economy within itself. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]