BY Obakeng Maje
A two-day North West Provincial infrastructure development colloquium to unlock economic infrastructure delivery, accelerate growth, development and job creation is to commence at Sun City Resort outside Rustenburg on Monday.

The objectives of the colloquium hosted by the Planning Commission in the Office of Premier Mme Thandi Modise under the theme “Growth and Development Colloquim: Strategies to unlock the economic potential of the North West Province” is to focus on strategic development priorities of water, energy, economic infrastructure and roads identified by Premier Modise is aimed at:

· Establishing an understanding of the significance of infrastructure development to growth and development in the province

· Exploring infrastructure development to accelerate job creation

· Laying the foundation for the development of the provincial long term plan that is aligned to the National Development Plan

· Interacting with other role players in infrastructure development

In announcing the colloquium earlier, Premier Mme Thandi Modise said that it presented the provincial government us with an opportunity to prioritise on development investment as expressed in SIP 4 and 7 of the government strategic integrated projects with a view formulate a comprehensive provincial infrastructure plan that is also aligned to our provincial industrial strategy and Special Economic Zone to maximise impact.

The keynote address by Minister of Energy, Ms Dipuo Peters on the opening day of the colloquium hosted in partnership with Development Bank of Southern Africa(DBSA) will focus on the relevance of the energy sector and the importance of energy planning.

In addition to a presentation to be delivered by Mr. Pascal Moloi from the National Planning Commission at the roundtable co-sponsored by DBSA, National Empowerment Fund and First National Bank other presentations by various public and private partners including academia in plenary and commissions will cover:

· Water challenges and the approach towards prioritization(2030 and beyond)-Prof Mike Muller from Wits University

· Water for growth and development :Overcoming the challenges, , -Ms Zandile Mathe (DDG National Water Resources infrastructure in the Department of Water Affairs)

· Renewable energy-Dr William Stafford ( CSIR

· Conventional energy sources-Dr Senzio Myeni(Corporate Specialist, Business Sciences at Eskom)

· towards sustainable energy provision and challenges of climate change-Dr Gary Kendall(Programme for Sustainable Leadership South Africa),

· The benefit of economic Infrastructure to the province’s competitive advantage -Dr. Khathutshelo Sikhitha(Senior Economist Department of Economic Development

· The potential labour absorptive capacity of infrastructure development-Mr Richard Goode(Lead Sector Strategy Specialist :Infrastructure Planning at DBSA)

· Unlocking the challenge of grant funded municipal infrastructure development-Ms Santhurie Naidoo (Executive manager Economic And Infrastructure Development Branch Dept of Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs)

· Conceptualising economic infrastructure for rural development-Ms Leona Archary (DDG: Infrastructure and Economic Development from Department of Rural Development)

The keynote speech at the networking dinner to be on Monday evening will be delivered by Acting Premier Louisa Mabe while Premier Modise will address plenary on Tuesday morning.

Members of the media are invited to cover the colloquium. Kindly RSVP with Pat Dooms @ 084 831 4072 for accreditation.