Special Economic Zones are Strategic Tools for Industrialisation – Deputy Minister Majola |
| The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Fikile Mazola says South Africa recognises the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), programme as one of the strategic tools for industrialisation, promotion of investments and exports. Majola was speaking during the SEZ Investment Roadshow in Chengdu, China.
According to Majola, South Africa has adopted the SEZ programme as a tool to drive the country’s industrial development, focusing on the creation of new industrial hubs and putting greater emphasis on the development of industrial capabilities through value chains and cluster development. “Many of our SEZs will focus on the beneficiation of the country’s natural resources exploiting the downstream opportunities emanating from the vast mineral reserves found in South Africa. But this strategic approach requires a coordinated long-term planning and integration of government approaches at all levels. We have already created a competitive incentive package that includes provision of world-class infrastructure, grants for qualifying investment assets and various tax incentives.” said Majola. Majola also said that the signing of 93 Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreements between South African and Chinese entrepreneurs in June 2019 demonstrated that South Africa and China shared commitment to strengthen economic relations between the two countries. “We expect these agreements to help create jobs, deepen our country’s industrialisation agenda and grow our economies,” added Majola. Majola thanked the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Bank of China and the Ministry of Commerce of China, for successfully organising the SEZ Investment Roadshow in Chengdu. “We appreciate your efforts and we hope to convince you to continue hosting more investment attraction roadshows. We value and appreciate our relationship, and are confident that this gathering will yield positive results for both countries. We are looking forward to a successful implementation of a comprehensive programme between now and the next roadshow in 2020,” he said. Speaking at the same event, the Executive Director and Vice President of Bank of China, Mr Jinzhen Lin said with 300 Chinese-funded enterprises carrying out production and operation activities in South Africa, he believed it is a good time to introduce more excellent Chinese-funded enterprises to the investment markets in South Africa. “The NDRC and the dti have actively created opportunities and built pragmatic exchange platforms for the enterprises of both countries. I expect entrepreneurs here to make full use of this event to explore cooperation with country and seek win-win commercial partnerships,” added Lin.
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