The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has relaunched the Agro-Processing Support Scheme (APSS) in order to increase the uptake of the incentive, which is aimed at stimulating investment in South African agro-processing enterprises.
According to the Chief Director of Strategic Partnership and Customer Care at the dtic, Tsepiso Makgothi, the amendment of the APSS is a result of engagement with various stakeholders and businesses, where it became apparent that some companies did not have the minimum R1 million investment that was required, while others were of the view that the APSS guidelines were too onerous.
“Agro-processing remains a key priority economic sector as per the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP).
“A key characteristic of agro-processing is its strong upstream and downstream linkages. Although other incentive programmes for the manufacturing sector have been effective in achieving their intended objectives, a dedicated incentive scheme has greater potential in creating an enabling environment for small and medium businesses in the agro-processing industry to participate meaningfully in the mainstream economy,” Makgothi said.
Makgothi said the APSS aims to achieve increased agro-processing capacity, employment creation, modernised machinery and equipment, improve competitiveness and productivity, and broaden participation.
“The incentive will support both brown and green field investments, with a focus on promoting economic inclusion to support equitable economic growth of production activities within the agro-processing value chain.
“Through the scheme, we are committing to increasing localisation, encouraging investment in upstream and downstream support services, as well as the expansion of infrastructure to be used by farmers and agro-processors,” Makgothi said.
The programme is a cost-sharing grant capped at R20 million over a two-year investment period for new machinery and equipment, commercial vehicles, buildings and competitiveness improvement costs.
The APSS targets six key identified sub-sectors, namely food and beverage value addition and processing, furniture manufacturing, fibre processing, feed production, fertiliser production and essential oil production.
More information can be accessed on the dtic website by clicking on the following link: http://www.thedtic.gov.za/financial-and-non-financial-support/incentives/agro-processing-support-scheme/.
Source: South African Government News Agency