TIKZN joins the list of businesses internationally recognised for quality management systems
2020-03-05 12:00:00

Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) today celebrated the award of the
ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Certification, the world's leading
quality business standard, and joined the international database of
International Organisation of Standardization (ISO) certified companies.
This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a
strong customer focus, and that the agency's mindset and approach is one of
continual improvement.
"As KwaZulu-Natal's trade and inward investment promotion agency we are mandated
to promote the province as an investment destination and facilitate trade by
assisting local companies' access international markets. We achieve this by
providing expertise and knowledge related to investment opportunities and
information about the province and doing business in South Africa among other
activities.
"Therefore, it is important to build a culture of continuous improvement and
customer centricity which is vital when dealing with investments that run into
billions of Rand.
This ISO 9001:2015 certification reassures our domestic and international
investors and exporters that when they deal with us they can depend on our
services to meet their requirements and deliver consistent performance across
all our departments." said Neville Matjie Chief Executive, Trade & Investment
KwaZulu-Natal.
During the 2018/2019 financial year TIKZN was successful in committing eight new
investment projects, collectively valued at R2,66 billion which will create more
than 2 536 new employment opportunities within the eThekwini, Zululand,
uMkhanyakude and Harry Gwala Districts of the province.
Wayne Sherriff American Systems Registrar representative in South Africa said
the ISO 9001:2015 was prestigious because it was so difficult to obtain. He
estimated that there were only 13 000 companies in South Africa flying the ISO
901:2015 flag.
"Not only did TIKZN achieve this certification in just two years they also
achieved it on their first attempt. This was exceptional and rare," he said.
"To be recognised as a credible organisation our systems must meet the world's
top standards; that all inefficiencies have been ironed out; that we are
committed to continually identifying potential problems and resolving them
before they occur. "It means that almost accurate or close enough is not good
enough for us," said Matjie.
"We pride ourselves on ensuring that we have at our disposal accurate, updated
information about local, national and global business trends which we use to
effectively and efficiently package for both internal and external stakeholder
consumption. Last financial year, we developed and packaged 18 sector analyses,
fact sheets and value chain studies for interested parties" said Matjie.
All employees with their executive managers were involved in the audit of all
policies and systems, to ensure they are in line with local legislation and
international standards.
From now on TIKZN will undergo annual audits by an international external
independent verification body to ensure that continuous improvement within the
organisation is top of mind.
TIKZN now joins a database of an estimated one million companies and
organisations world-wide certified as ISO 9001:2015. When companies and foreign
investors are looking for a credible partner they use this database, so it is
vital to be there.
ENDS
For more details please contact:
Angel (Mkhethie) Shabangu
Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal
076 062 3779 / 031 368 9667