Special Industrial Zones – The Next Growth Phase of Industrial Parks |
| The Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), Mr Lionel October says the next growth phase of the industrial parks is the Special Industrial Zones (SIZ) category. This category will require that the Zones offer world class infrastructure to its investors. This development will also take into consideration the development of the areas that the parks are operating in as well as the state of readiness of the Industrial Park. October was speaking at the 4th IP Symposium and launch of the Industrial Assessment Booklet hosted in Midrand, Gauteng.
The Industrial Parks Revitalisation Programme Assessment Booklet outlines the order of magnitude and estimates based on the conditional assessments conducted on the Industrial Parks. “Our next implementation phase in the industrial parks is to not have it as an isolated zone separate from the township. We want to have simultaneous development so that we can uplift the whole community at the same level as the improved industrial parks or Special Industrial Zones,” said October. October said the first implementation phase of the industrial parks which focused on security infrastructure upgrade, fencing, street lighting, top structures and critical electricity requirement was needed in order to prevent further deterioration of the parks. “Now that the improvements of the facilities inside the parks are almost done, we have to ensure that the communities do not stay impoverished. We will be working with municipalities and provinces to upgrade the townships itself so that they feed into the industrial park,” he said. October added that what is key in running these industrial parks and Special Economic Zones is a strong management force that will bring all the necessary skills to run them at a full capacity. He also said a programme for establishing digital hubs in all of the industrial parks will be implemented beginning with the Isithebe Industrial Park in Mandeni, KwaZulu-Natal.
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