South Africa will not solve unemployment through sweatshop-style jobs, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said in Johannesburg on Monday.

"We are not going the sweatshop route," he told a gathering of the SA Institute of International Affairs at Wits University.

He said South Africa was committed to creating "decent work" where "there is respect for labour laws and the rights of workers".

Davies said trade policy had to be guided by its ability to make a meaningful contribution to a country.

"What does it mean in terms of job creation and economic transformation," he asked.

During the global economic crisis, countries which had fared the best were those with big domestic markets and strong regional markets.

The same was true of the direction South Africa needed to go.

"The next round of industrialisation in South Africa will be linked to infrastructure."

Sought-after companies would be those providing for the building of power stations and railways, for example.

Neighbouring countries would have the same needs as South Africa.

"The regional market is very important.".

Davies said trade with countries such as India, Brazil and China remained a key focus of the South African government.

"We see a high increase in South-South trade," he said.

"In addition to that we have very good political relations with these countries. We have common experiences of development. This is going to be one of the major focuses to push forward".

Nevertheless, Davies said, South Africa also remained interested in countries from the North such as America and various European countries.

He said these countries were hubs of technology and major sources of investment.

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