Honourable Members,   Following the 2024 elections, the Government of National Unity adopted the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) to guide the work of the 7th administration.   The success of the MTDP will require cooperation and collaboration with key stakeholders outside and beyond government, in particular business, labour and civil society.   Achieving growth and job creation depends on a whole-of-society approach that amplifies the state’s own capacity to drive development.   Currently, social compacting has been undertaken at a sectoral level through a number of Master Plans that have been developed together with social partners.   In many cases sectoral compacts have yielded positive outcomes which include job retention, investment commitments, localisation efforts and the revitalisation of sectoral value chains.   For example, the Automotive Master Plan has helped maintain South Africa’s position as a competitive vehicle manufacturing hub.   The Sugar Industry Master Plan has supported the recovery of an industry under significant distress.   The provinces in which these industries are located have benefited from these outcomes.   For example, the clothing, textile, footwear and leather industries are concentrated in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The main sugar cane growing areas are in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The main vehicle manufacturers are located in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.   The investments that have been generated in these industries through the Master Plans are benefiting the economies of these provinces.   While there has been meaningful progress in building social compacts at this level, work towards a national social compact has now commenced with the launch of the National Dialogue.   The National Dialogue will seek to forge a new social compact, to agree on the actions required by all members of society to bridge policy differences among social partners, strengthen implementation mechanisms, and rebuild trust to overcome the country’s challenges and achieve the objectives of the National Development Plan.   This National Dialogue builds on a rich history of social compacting in our country.   Indeed, the drafting and adoption of our Constitution represented a comprehensive national compact. It is a compact that continues to bind the nation together in a cohesive manner. The National Dialogue will no doubt reconfirm our commitment to the compact we achieved when we drafted our Constitution.   In order for our country to progress, we need a shared vision of what kind of a society we want to build, and what we need to do to get there. That is what the National Dialogue will produce, as the basis for a strong and enduring social compact that unites all South Africans behind a single goal.