Industrial policy forms the core of TIPS’s work. In this context, TIPS supports the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), the Departmenet of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and several other departments and stakeholders with targeted studies to support policy development for industrial and trade policy as well as manufacturing growth.
TIPS undertakes research, among others, into national and regional sectors, value chains and clusters; the impact of state and private institutions on manufacturing growth and diversification; the barriers to entry to small and medium enterprise in manufacturing; the extent and nature of innovation; and the impact of manufacturing on broader economic growth and development, income distribution and job creation.
Trade research has also been an important research area of TIPS since its establishment. TIPS has looked at many different aspects of international trade, including country studies, trade policy, export development and the relationship between trade and industrial policy.