After everything South Africa has experienced this year, one cannot help wonder what 2011 has in store for us.

It has been a landmark year for the country as we managed to impress the rest of the world by successfully hosting the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, an event from which the country is still benefiting.

And, because of its success, the rest of the world is ready to bank on us – which is what we were banking on from the beginning.

There is evidence that the rest of the world is ready to follow the lead of countries such as India, Brazil and China and form alliances and invest in our country because we had an opportunity to show them who we are and what we are capable of.

We turned a dream into reality, and that reality is starting to provide tangible results.

In the run-up to and during the month-long soccer event, we met with international standards, we disproved various myths, and straightened skewed perceptions about South Africa.

But why stop there? We raised the bar, now we must maintain it – if not reach higher and go further than we have ever gone before.

One of the pillars on which South African business rests, is good corporate governance.

It is not by chance that South Africa is one of the leading countries in the world that measures itself by good corporate governance. It is this that assures interested investors that their confidence in our culture of business is well founded and not a smokescreen for underhanded business dealings. We mean business!

And that instils a confidence in our investors that allows us a platform to create mutually beneficial partnerships – partnerships that will help us to develop our country further.

South Africa has been fortunate to have investments focused on infrastructure, tourism, education and many other areas.

What this means for our fellow member states from the Southern African Development Community, is that there has been – and will still be – a spillover of investment into these regions; and if all goes according to plan, the rest of the African continent will become a serious investment focal point as well.

This is all possible!

Of course, it has not been all positive; this year has seen its ups and downs. The one area that received a major shake-up was employment and education, which is a positive.

In October, President Jacob Zuma convened a special Cabinet meeting to discuss the country’s current economic challenges, with the aim of creating a new plan going forward. He proposed a new growth path for the country: creating five million jobs by 2020, placing employment high on the agenda.

And this, coupled with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s well-received Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, things are sure to start looking up.

This requires hard work from both the private and public sector in the new year. We look forward to seeing positive results. This year was great, but next year will be even better.

Enjoy the festive season and keep safe.

Until next time,

Tracee Harvard

Editor