South Africaˇ¦s special economic zones (SEZs) have attracted over R16,8
billion in investments, says Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies.
Speaking at the first SEZs Investment Conference on Wednesday, 3 April 2019,
Minister Davies said the total number of operational investors in designated
SEZs had now reached 115 with a private investment value of over R16,8
billion.
ˇ§Since the introduction of the new SEZ legislation in 2014, the number of
designated zones has increased, the investor confidence has improved, and
the number of operational investments has increased and continue to
increase.
"Support from various sectors of society, in particular, all spheres of
government, state-owned entities (SOEs), the business community and labour
has also improved considerably,ˇ¨ he said at the start of the two-day
conference.
The Minister said the companies had created 15 716 direct jobs.
The Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone has managed to attract 35
operational investors with an investment value of R1,5 billion, creating a
total of 3 246 direct jobs.
In the 2017/18 financial year, 429 new direct jobs and 974 construction jobs
were created. As at 18 March 2019, 184 new direct jobs and a total of 2 020
construction jobs had been created.
According to Minister Davies, the Coega SEZ has become a best practice model
for all SEZs in South Africa and across the continent, and it remains the
biggest SEZ in terms of number and value of investments on the African
continent.
ˇ§In 2012, the Coega SEZ had 19 investors with a total private-sector
investment value of R1,13 billion, creating 3 778 jobs. As at April 2019,
the Coega SEZ had grown to 43 operational investors worth over R9,93 billion
worth of private investments. As a result, it has doubled its direct
employment creation to 8210 jobs and 19402 including construction jobs since
inception,ˇ¨ said Minister Davies.
To cement its position as a leading SEZ on the continent, Coega is now the
subject of a global case study led by the World Bank which looks at best
practice examples of SEZ development across the globe.
Minister Davies said this was an indication that the SEZ Programme in South
Africa was on the correct path.
To improve and upscale the impact of the SEZ programme, Minister Davies said
it was critical to look at new and innovative ways of supporting SEZs to
achieve more and double investments in line with President Cyril Ramaphosaˇ¦s
mission to attract more investments to the zones.
Minister Davies said it was time to find tailor-made solutions that would
support the SEZs and find solutions that would support investors in the
zones.
To date, a total of ten SEZs have been designated. In 2018, the Atlantis SEZ
in the Western Cape, a Green-Tech Hub as well as Nkomazi SEZ in Mpumalanga,
agro-processing and logistic hub, were the latest designations under the
programme.
ˇ§In addition, the designation of Bojanala SEZ in North West is at the
advanced stage. Very soon I will be publishing the application for the
designation of the proposed zone in the government gazette to afford the
public an opportunity to submit written comments on the proposed
development,ˇ¨ said Minister Davies.
ˇV Source: SAnews.gov.za |