Costed Action Plan for SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap (d) The SADC Secretariat The SADC Secretariat, established by Article 14 of the Treaty, should be appropriately strengthened and empowered. The Secretariat should have executive authority/mandate to take initiative and make decisions and implement programmes. This requires closer cooperation between Member States and also a much greater sharing of sovereignty in support of the Secretariat to strengthen the integration process and enhance the tempo of industrialization in the region. Empowering the Secretariat requires institutional innovation and realignment of its structures. The SADC Secretariat serves as a technical organ for fostering regional integration and industrialization and supports the other components of the industrialization governance structure. Strengthening and coordinating industrialization thrust would require the establishment of an Industrial Development and Trade Directorate within the SADC Secretariat. The Directorate shall: (i) Champion industrial development in SADC, including the monitoring of implementation of the Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap, the compilation and dissemination of analyses of industrial developments and other economic developments in SADC by way of regular bi-annual reports. To this end, it will be essential to strengthen the statistical capacity by ensuring that it has the appropriate skills and resources to develop Trade-inValue-Added data that are essential for value chain development. See Box 8.1 below. (ii) Be mandated to prepare and publish working papers, research reports etc. that contribute to the information flow to Member States, to potential investors, donors, lending agencies etc. It should undertake the role of a regional think-tank. (iii) Work closely with the private sector to foster industrialization. The private sector should be included, not excluded, from the decision-making process, where project investment and value chain participation is concerned. The Southern African Business Forum (SABF) could establish a starting point. (iv) Develop a SADC-specific Ease of Doing Business framework. 67