The Gauteng Provincial Government plans to establish a small, micro and medium enterprise (SMME) Web portal to provide a database of these companies and monitor progress made in developing this sector in the region.
Gauteng`s Department of Finance and Economic Affairs has allocated more than R200 million over the next three years to create and run a dedicated SMME agency. The portal forms part of this initiative.
The SMME agency will be officially launched in April, while the SMME portal will be launched in May.
"The SMME agency will support emerging enterprises with financial and non-financial support. It will also give out funding and provide advice on tenders and information on how to access lucrative markets," says Percy Mthimkhulu, spokesman for the Gauteng Department of Finance and Economic Affairs. "The agency will also ensure all SMMEs are sustainable.
"All of the agency`s operations will take place at the Gauteng Manufacturing Advice Council (Gaumac) offices. Gaumac will advise SMMEs in manufacturing while the agency`s scope will be much wider to include the services sector, the IT sector and other sectors of the economy," says Mthimkhulu.
"We are working on a funding model to establish the kind of loans that will be issued. We are also forming partnerships with the private sector and other financial institutions.
"The portal will provide a database of all SMMEs in Gauteng. It will also help government to procure services from SMMEs around the province."
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