EDD injects P10bn into local business

She told Parliament yesterday that since the inception of the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) in 2010, a cumulative figure of P10.70 billion worth of goods and services has been recorded.

Responding to a question from the Member of Parliament for Okavango Bagalatia Arone, she said from this, P8 billion was for goods purchased from local manufacturers and service providers. The EDD policy sets to promote production and consumption of locally produced goods and services. From April to date, 898 enterprises have been issued with EDD certificates and there has been an increasing trend for recorded purchases of goods and services by government departments and parastatals, Makgatho-Malesu said. She said 723 or 80.51 percent are in the small-scale category while 112 in the medium and 63 of these certificates are in large scale.