President Jacob Zuma has expanded the inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Bilateral Investment Treaties to improve support and assistance to investors wishing to take advantage of investment opportunities in the country.

Noting that there was a need to simplify the regulatory framework, government sought to assist potential investors who criticised the time spent visiting different departments and institutions to fulfil such requirements.

Last year, Zuma announced that government, through its InvestSA approach, would, later this year launch a one-stop shop (OSS) concept to fast-track, unblock and reduce red tape in government.

However, the President felt that the OSS concept required support from all government departments and expanded the current IMC to include a focus on South Africa’s investment climate across all areas of government in a coordinated and cohesive manner.
 
The reconfigured IMC would be chaired by Zuma, with assistance from Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies.

Other members of the IMC were the Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Economic Development; Energy; Environmental Affairs; Finance; Health; Home Affairs; Labour; Mineral Resources; Public Enterprises; Rural Development and Land Reform; Science and Technology; Water and Sanitation; and Small Business Development.

The new IMC would focus on overall coordination, alignment and policy coherence on economic policy, regulatory and framework, thereby providing clarity and certainty to investment; improving the country’s investment climate and, in particular, the ease of doing business and competitiveness; and coordinating and rolling out the OSS across all levels in government, besides others.
 
The IMC would be open to inputs from the business community and would interface with the Presidential Coordinating Committee.