The Medium Term Strategic Framework of the DTI was presented to the Committee within the context of the current global economic slowdown and its impact on the South African economy. The briefing provided an overview of the Department's strategic objectives and key interventions, a brief overview of the allocated resources, monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems and key challenges to effective implementation of its strategic plan. One of the challenges expressed by the Department was the clarification of the role of the new Department of Economic Development and how this would affect the Department and its strategic plan. The DTI's budget vote allocation of R6.3 billion has increased by 25% from 2008/09 to 2009/10. This increase has been primarily in two programmes, namely the Enterprise Organisation and Consumer and Corporate Regulation. The largest proportions of the budget were allocated to The Enterprise Organisation (54.2%) and the Empowerment and Enterprise Development (20.6%) programmes in 2009/10. These allocations indicate a continued focus in terms of industrial development, supporting small, micro and medium enterprises and broadening participation in line with the State of the Nation Address objectives. There would also be additional support for efficient regulation of practices that affect consumers, particularly through monitoring, enforcement and compliance of consumer and corporate legislation.