At the start of the Business Trust in 1999 there was limited direct engagement between business and government in pursuit of South Africa's national objectives. The Business Trust was the first venture of its kind, structured as a partnership between business and government. It set out to encourage partnerships for the achievement of national objectives. The landscape has changed over recent years. If just the initiatives supported by the Business Trust are considered there is now an extensive network of partnership activity.
These include the Business Outsourcing Partnership for the BPO sector, the Tourism Enterprise Partnership, the Infrastructure Partnership, the Public Works Partnership and the Community Investment Partnership. In addition the Business Trust agreed to support the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), which is structured as a partnership between government, business and labour, and continued to support the Big Business Working Group.
