Govt bets on SEZs as minister opens 2nd international conference

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The government is betting on SA’s network of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to reignite industrial growth and attract billions of rand in new investment.

The Eastern Cape is positioning itself to secure a larger share of future manufacturing projects.

Opening the second International Special Economic Zones Infrastructure and Investment Conference in Durban on Thursday, trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau said the country’s 13 designated SEZs had collectively attracted R31.7bn in private investment, supported 224 companies and created 28,821 direct jobs.

The government had invested R12bn in bulk and top infrastructure to support the programme, he said.

Tau said the conference would focus on converting investor interest into new commitments while strengthening the country’s industrial base.

“We expect new investment commitments and partnership agreements,” Tau said, adding that government also intended to designate two new SEZs — Fetakgomo Tubatse and Vaal — as part of expanding the programme.

Top brass attend the second International Special Economic Zones Infrastructure and Investment Conference in Durban on Thursday. From left: Coega development corporation CEO Themba Koza, trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau, Eastern Cape economic development MEC Nonkqubela Pieters and KwaZulu-Natal MEC for economic development Rev Keith Musa Zondi. Picture: (Supplied)

“We are tabling an independent World Bank review of our SEZ programme, and we will use it to finalise a revised SEZ Implementation Model, one that brings in more private-sector-developed industrial parks, stronger non-financial incentives, and a formal process for turning around zones that are underperforming,” Tau said.

“We are using this conference to strengthen the export pathways that our zones can access through the African Continental Free Trade Area.”

Speakers at day two of the conference include deputy president Paul Mashatile, who will deliver the keynote address, and five panels, that will include Ford Africa, Aspen Pharmacare, Afreximbank, DP World and Transnet, who will discuss why investors should treat SEZs as destinations of choice.

For the Eastern Cape, where the automotive industry remains the backbone of the provincial economy, the outcome of the conference could prove critical in securing new investment for Coega and reinforcing the province’s position as a gateway for manufacturing and exports into African and global markets.