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Gold jewellery sector set to shine through scheme - Newsroom - 01-10-2014
Emerging gold jewellery manufacturers have been given a boost with the launch of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Gold Loan Scheme.
The R100-million loan scheme was launched by Minister Rob Davies on Tuesday in Sandton.
The scheme is aimed at assisting emerging and established gold jewellery manufacturers with their working capital loans and needs.
Under the scheme, working loans are provided at a fixed interest rate of 3% per annum.
Minister Davies said this intervention will allow South African jewellers to grow and be able to supply the local retail sector as well as export markets.
“The latest figures indicate that there are about 1 000 jewellery manufacturers left in the country and that production is down to 3 500 kilograms per annum from 7 500 kilograms in 2004,†said Minister Davies.
The scheme was originally identified in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) to provide a facility production for gold manufacturers to access favourable loans and terms used in jewellery production.
The fifth iteration of the IPAP was launched in April. The document represents a continuous consolidation and strengthening of concrete industrial policy intervention.
The Minister said the jewellery sector had imports exceeding R1 billion in 2013, while exports were sitting at R467 million in the same year. This is a contrast from imports of R280 million and exports of R466 million recorded in 2004.
The Gold Loan Scheme will assist local manufacturers recapture a big local market, which is currently served by imported products as well as increasing exports to destinations such as the United States of America, where South African jewellery can enter duty-free under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other markets.
“The new scheme is one of the many programmes that are used as interventions to support and grow the jewellery sector.
“The dti, through numerous, schemes has provided support to more than 60 emerging and established jewellery manufacturers in a number of global exhibitions and will continue to provide such support,†said Minister Davies.
Divisional Executive for Corporate Strategy at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Shakeel Meer, said manufacturing challenges need a holistic approach and programmes to address them.
“Working together with the manufacturing sector and identifying challenges that they have to deal with on a daily basis provided valuable input in the development of the Gold Loan Scheme,†said Meer.
He urged entrepreneurs to make use of the scheme and move the sector forward.
Application for the Gold Loan Scheme funding can be done online (http://www.idc.co.za) or submitted to the IDC offices. – SAnews.gov.za