Economic cooperation

The BEC programme was aiming to:

• contribute to economic growth in South Africa;
• contribute to job creation in small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa; 
• contribute to Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment, BBBEE; and
• promote sustainable long-term commercial relations of mutual benefit between South African SMMEs and Swedish enterprises.

Key focus areas were skills development, entrepreneurship, management and trade. The programme included activities such as support to industrial schools, trainee programmes, staff exchanges and trade and export management training. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida, was funding and managing the programme together with the South African Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Swedish Trade Council (STC) in Johannesburg.
 
The programme also involved a range of other actors such as government departments, universities, chambers of commerce and business promotion agencies in both countries, as well as Swedish businesses based in South Africa.

In the new Swedish Strategy for South Africa, economic growth is mentioned as a prerequisite for development and poverty reduction in South Africa:

The objective of Swedish selective cooperation with South Africa – defined on the basis of Sweden's policy for global development and the over-arching goal of Swedish development cooperation – is to contribute, through economic growth, to the creation of conditions that will enable poor people to improve
their living conditions. 

A new programme on economic development is currently being elaborated by the Swedish Trade Council in cooperation with South African stakeholders and Sida. The Swedish Trade Council will execute this programme during 2010 - 2013 with a yearly budget of approximately 10 MSEK.

More information on the new programme will follow as soon as decided upon.