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Estimates of the Provincial Revenue and Expenditure (EPRE) - 2025/26 Financial Year Environmental awareness and capacity building activities will continue to play an important role in educating the public on environmental issues. As such, the department will conduct a total of 24 environmental awareness and 24 capacity building activities throughout the province. There are also plans to create approximately 500 work opportunities through environmental programmes. 4 REPRIORITISATION The Department reprioritised the 2025 MTEF budget to align with National and Provincial priorities. The Department has a Budget Committee in place, which makes recommendations regarding the project%u2019s funding, amongst others to deal effectively with the constrained Goods and Services budgets over the 2025 MTEF, allocations are considered over the MTEF and in the Adjustments Budget and funding is prioritised among various programmes in the Department. The Department is considering a range of efficiencies to enable funding of critical initiatives. Furthermore, the Economic Sector, Investment, Employment and Infrastructure Development (ESIEID) cluster outlined priorities for the Seventh Administration. Areas relevant for DEDEAT that are integrated in the 2025-2030 strategic plan to ensure alignment with broader provincial development goals are outlined below. In terms of Job creation and skills development form a central component of the ESIEID priorities, with ambitious targets for public employment programmes aiming to create over 528 000 jobs for the province. This aligns perfectly with DEDEAT's mandate to support comprehensive skills development initiatives. These initiatives encompass a range of programmes including bursaries with a budget of R1 million for 2025/26 and R3 million over the medium term, internships, artisan development, automotive technical training, and graduate incubation programmes. The department will position itself as a key facilitator of these skills development initiatives with a budget of R1.630 million in 2025/25 and R4.567 million over the medium term to support sectors aligned to economic development mandate. The focus on MSME and entrepreneurship development presents another critical area for integration. The ESIEID framework allocates significant resources amounting to R16.8 million for Local and Regional Economic Development (LRED) programme towards entrepreneurship support. DEDEAT will drive the LRED programme, however through the public entities the focus will be on the development of MSMEs in the construction and automotive aftermarket sectors with a budget of R20.400 million, as well as supporting the Black Industrialist programme and emerging contractor development. The province further allocates R50 million for Economic Development for leveraging private funding to augment economic development funds for sustainable economic growth and development through ECDC. The creative industries sector receives specific attention in the ESIEID priorities with allocations at the ECDC for film industry development budget amount of R23.6 million for film production support and additional funding for the Eastern Cape Film Expo and festival participation. DEDEAT's strategic plan incorporates the strategic intent in the creative industry as part of its broader economic diversification strategy. The oceans economy development priorities align strongly with DEDEAT's mandate, with specific allocations for small-scale fisheries infrastructure with a budget of R10 million and marine protection and ocean governance allocated a budget of R3 million. DEDEAT will support these initiatives with particular emphasis on sustainable development of coastal resources and marine protection. Infrastructure development support, particularly in sustainable energy, presents a crucial area for integration. DEDEAT%u2019s strategy is to incorporate support for transmission grid development, sustainable energy procurement, and embedded generation investment programmes. The economic sector%u2019s R217 million set aside for climate change response aligns well with DEDEAT's 621