REPRESENTATIVES FROM business, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality and the community have formed an economic forum. The municipality represents the city of Port Elizabeth and neighbouring towns of Despatch and Uitenhage. The forum will advise the municipality on economic matters and will monitor progress on the implementation of economic strategies, says business unit manager Vuyo Litumane. According to NMMM Portfolio Councillor for Economic Development, Tourism & Agriculture, Mike Kwenaite - under whose office the forum was initiated - the NMEF would create a platform for government to engage local stakeholders on critical and strategic economic matters affecting the city. “By establishing this platform we are creating an all-inclusive process whereby economic strategy development and policy formulation and reviews can be collectively discussed.” Councillor Kwenaite said the NMEF would address critical issues like sustainable economic growth for the region and job creation. The Forum would act in an advisory capacity to the NMMM. “Discussions were healthy,” added Zitumane. “The most important thing is that we managed to achieve our objective of launching a forum, where these critical issues may be collectively discussed and debated.” The programme at the launch included an overview of the economic development programme of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (NMMM), inputs from organised and business. Delegates to the launch were also briefed on the NMMM's partnership with the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. Organisations represented at the launch included NAFCOC Nelson Mandela Bay, the Uitenhage-Despatch Development Initiative (UDDI), PE Technikon, Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism, Northern Areas Chamber of Business, Uitenhage Chamber of Business, the Black Management Forum, COSATU, ECSECC, the University of PE, the Leadership Development Foundation, Spoornet, Business Against Crime, Business Youth Forum, the Community Development Forum, the PE Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PERCCI), the Motherwell Urban Renewal Programme, and the East Cape Development Corporation (ECDC).