Commerce and industry activities are key for the development of Southern Sudan economy, a minister said.
GoSS Minister for Commerce and Investment, Stephen Dhieu, told journalists this morning in Juba that the economy will grow if commerce and industry are stimulated.Mr. Dhieu added that Southern Sudan is very rich in raw materials but they need to be processed in order to generate wealth.
Mr. Dhieu said his ministry was preparing polices to regulate formal trade and improve economic growth through public and private partnerships.
He announced plans to revive with the support of foreign investors what he called defunct industries, including Nzara Agricultural Complex, Mangala Sugar Plant, Kapoeta Cement Factory and Wau’s White Nile Brewery, and fruit and vegetables canning facility.
He added that the Government supported some 42 thousand small businesses mainly in Central Equatoria and that his ministry received 10 million US dollars to strengthen the private sector across the ten states of South Sudan until 2011.
Mr. Dhieu said t during the war 90 percent of South Sudan population lived under the poverty line and five years into peace poverty affects half of the population.