JOHANNESBURG – Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has announced the establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the Rustenburg platinum belt in the North West.

"The purpose of this SEZ will be to develop industries that use platinum as an input," Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said.

"These include jewellery, catalytic converters and fuel cell technology."

The minister was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and the Japan External Trade Organisation and industry in South Africa at the Gordon Institute of Business Science on Tuesday.

He was speaking on reindustrialisation in South Africa and the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP).

Davies said his department had made significant gains through iterations of IPAP since its inception in the 2007/8 financial year.

Achievements were made in the clothing and textile, automotive, agroprocessing and film sectors.

"IPAP is neither a policy document, nor a wish list.

It's a set of time-bound actions which have to be undertaken by different parts of government."

He said they had been successful because they were developed in consultation with the private sector.