Atlantis soon to be a green hub for the tech sector

File image: Atlantis Cape Town

File image: Atlantis Cape Town

Published Aug 2, 2017

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CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape's bid to establish Atlantis as a green hub for the green tech sector, will shortly be up for public participation.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies confirmed that he had received a recommendation form the Special Economic Zones Advisory Board to designate Atlantis as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

A gazette will be issued by Minister Davies to notify the public of his intention to designate the Atlantis SEZ and then the public along with any interested party will have 30 days from the date of the gazette to support or object to the designation.

"The SEZ will deliver an economic boost to Atlantis, and the Western Cape. Minister Davies has been encouraged by the fact that there is a further R1.8 billion in investment in the pipeline, and hundreds of jobs already created in the proposed SEZ."

"We know that South Africa is the world's fastest-growing green economy. And in partnership with GreenCape, we are establishing the province as the hub of this growth. The Western Cape is home to 60% of the country's green project developers and two thirds of South Africa's green manufacturing happens in this province. In order to take advantage of this growth and support a manufacturing economy, we applied for this national government policy instrument," said Minister Winde.

Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde and the City of Cape Town submitted the application. Minister Winde said the proposed SEZ is the culmination of public sector and private sector support over several years.

CEO of GreenCape, Mike Mulcahy said: "This announcement reinforces South Africa's commitment to the Green Economy and manufacturing as an engine of job creation and growth." 

"The cooperation and collaborative efforts of the project technical team, made up by the City, WCG, DTI and GreenCape, demonstrates SA's consensus support for the Green Economy. This is a big first step towards unlocking the full potential of a Green Tech focused SEZ, but there remains a formidable amount of work to do," added Mulcahy.

BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

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