Access to modern technology is key for value addition and value chain development as manufacturing is technology driven, Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mmusi Kgafela, has said. Mr Kgafela said this at the 29th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICSOE) of Southern Africa in Gaborone on Wednesday. He said harnessing technology and innovation for the private sector and value chains development was key for competitiveness in the environment created by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). �Access to technology is critical for productivity gains and competitiveness as higher productivity leads to growth which in turn leads to higher wages and improved welfare, thus lowering levels of poverty,� he said. He added that innovation hubs and special economic zones were ideal strategies in such endeavour thus should be engrained as part of national and regional industrialisation efforts. �Through collaborative efforts of governments and the private sector, supporting innovation and technology development can lift southern Africa out of poverty particularly through capacitating our Micro Small and Mediums Enterprises, youth and women-owned businesses,� he said. Mr Mmusi said he was optimistic of the private sector�s potential to support elevated levels of industrial development. However, he said, such should be preceded by creating an enabling environment for doing business and investment. �Our collective effort towards diversification of exports through value-addition especially in the context of the AfCFTA remains imperative,� he added. �Therefore boosting intra-Africa trade through the AfCFTA will generate immense benefits for our regional economies.� The importance of the agreement establishing the AfCFTA to the region�s short and long-term development needed no introduction because many countries had developed implementation strategies and were currently seized with capacitating stakeholders to competently participate in the larger continental market. �The whole continent is on board and the pace at which protocols are being concluded and the recent introduction of the guided trade initiative all point to an African continent that is committed to creating a seamless environment for industrialisation and trade,� he said. Mr Kgafela said it was impressive that the ICSOE secretariat had proposed an agenda which built on exploring the benefits of deeper regional integration through the AfCFTA, industrialisation, regional integration and value chains development. He said as illustrated by varied progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), inclusive development remained elusive for regional citizens, hence the need for deeper economic integration and exploitation of regional and global value chains. �In this endeavour, our drive for industrialisation remains paramount and needs to be pursued with the energy that it deserves,� he said. He urged regional governments to explore the intricate link between industrialisation and trade and how best the region can enhance competitiveness of its products, create sustainable jobs for the burgeoning youthful population and reduce the impact of primary commodity dependence. He said SADC should, as a region, frontload industrialisation and trade in its regional industrialisation blueprint in an effort to produce high value trade-able goods. Mr Kgafela said he remained hopeful that the SADC region would accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA to ensure that all stakeholders benefitted and that the seemingly intractable challenges of poverty, vulnerability and inequality were addressed.