The South African government should use the 5th BRICS Summit to articulate its National Growth Plan (NGP) to attract potential investors in the country, Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Chief Executive Officer Andrew Layman said on Friday.

BRICS, an acronym for emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will host its fifth summit in Durban from March 26 to 27.

"The most important message to be conveyed to investors is predictability. Business people need to know what the future holds as far as possible," Layman said in an interview with Xinhua in Johannesburg.

"Concerted efforts at the implementation of the National Growth Plan will convince investors that the country is serious about addressing its problems in a stable and predictable way," he said. The NGP is a government planned strategy that seeks to address the high levels of unemployment in the country as well as fostering sustainable economic growth. Under the strategy Pretoria aims to create 5 million jobs by 2020 and to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.

The host of this summit is something that South Africa must grab with firm hands, Layman said, adding that BRICS is a significant grouping because of the strength of the economies involved and their growth potential.

"We are the new boys and the smallest economy in BRICS. This summit has a lot to do with the standing of our country in the global economy and there is no doubt it will offer numerous economic and business opportunities."

In a separate interview with Xinhua Friday, Frontier Advisory Chief Executive Officer Martyn Davies urged Pretoria to seek tangible gains by hosting the summit through negotiating preferential market access for local firms into other BRIC economies.

He said that ahead and during the summit the South African government should also seek to adopt a regionally inclusive approach whereby neighboring economies are included in the summit dialogue.

"And our government must be more proactive in pushing to the fore leading Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed South African firms in a more coherent economic diplomacy," Davies said.

Both Layman and Davies called on South Africa business to actively pursue the emerging opportunities and new partnerships between themselves and BRIC peer companies, especially in the African hinterland economy.

However, Davies said BRICS as a grouping will become more "institutionalized" over time. He argued that the grouping must come up with substantive "commercial achievements rather than empty political rhetoric." Endi