By Larry Claasen

Construction and steel group Aveng wants to avoid problems faced by the banking sector in developing an empowerment strategy, saying its model would sidestep those issues that have seen foreign banks cringing at the prospect of being forced to bring in minority partners.

In its annual report, chairman Richard Savage said a situation must not be allowed to develop that condones different sets of rules for foreign and domestic investors. He said globalisation had seen the world become more competitive and for SA to attract new investment, the country needed to create an "attractive investment environment".

Black economic empowerment and affirmative action were important issues and should not be seen in a negative light by potential foreign investors, Savage said.

He said although Aveng was successful in fostering empowerment at the business unit level, a subcommittee of directors would now lead its thinking on the matter at group level.

There was a concern within the group that the benefits of empowerment were not "sufficiently widespread" and this would be taken into account when developing Aveng's strategy, he said.

The group said its prospects for the year ahead were difficult to predict.

However, there were some positive signs. The US economy appeared to be improving and interest rates in SA were likely to continue declining.

With the outlook for the year still uncertain, Aveng said its focus was on maintaining a positive cash flow.

Business Day