Exports Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme

The national Department of Trade, Industry and Competition administers a set of incentive programmes, which fall into the following incentive clusters, namely the Broadening Participation Cluster, Competitiveness Investment Cluster, Services Investment Cluster, Manufacturing Investment Cluster and Infrastructure Support Cluster. The following incentives are applicable to cultural expressions with relevance to the 2005 Convention.

Competitiveness Investment Cluster: Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA)

EMIA scheme seeks to assist South African exporters to establish export markets for their products; to partially compensate exporters for costs incurred for activities aimed at developing export markets for South African manufactured products and services; and to recruit new foreign direct investment into South Africa. Registered companies in the film and television, music and craft sectors have benefitted from this scheme by participating for example at the SA Handmade Collection, the India International Trade Fair, Ambiente (Germany), International Handicraft and Gift Fair in Kocaeli (Turkey), International Folk Art Market (USA) and the Asia Content and Entertainment Fair (South Korea).

Competitiveness Investment Cluster: Sector Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS)

The SSA Scheme seeks to develop an industry sector as a whole, broaden the export database and promote broader participation of black-owned Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) in the economy. The scheme has assisted a broad range of project coordinators, including the Association for Transformation in Film and Television, the Cape Film Commission, the Jewellery Council of South Africa, Publishers Association of South Africa, the South African Association for Creative Industries, the Independent Music Exporters South Africa as well as the Craft and Design Institute.

Services Investment Cluster: Film and TV Production incentive

Government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, offers film and television production incentives to promote the country’s film production and post-production industry. The incentives comprise the Foreign Film and Television Production and Postproduction Incentive, which aims to attract foreign-based film productions to be shot in South Africa and conducting post-production activities; and the South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive, which aims to assist local film producers in the production of local content. The sub-programme, South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive, has been added to the South African Film and Television Production and Co-production Incentive with the aim of assisting local emerging black filmmakers to grow and to take on larger productions that will create employment.The Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) scheme develops export markets for South African products and services and to recruit new foreign direct investment into the country.The key objectives of the measure are as follows:

●          To expand economic participation to ensure the development of sustainable and competitive enterprises.           

●          To promote the growth of South African-manufactured goods and services in the local and global economy.

●          To provide funding to non-profit business organisations in sectors and sub-sectors prioritised by the DTIC, as long as the purpose of the organisation and/or its proposed project aims to conform to the DTICs export strategy.

●          To contribute to creating employment, enhancing the international profile and export revenue of offshoring services, and increasing the country’s creative and technical skills base