Cape Town - The Western Cape government is locked in talks with the owners of three potential sites which will eventually house the province’s halaal industrial park.
With the pre-feasibility study for the province’s halaal hub almost complete, authorities are now mulling over which site will be best suited for the project.
The provincial government, following an open tender process, appointed Western Cape Fine Foods Initiative (WCFFI) last month to conduct the pre-feasibility and full feasibility study.
The proposed park will be a cluster of manufacturing and service firms in the halaal industry.
Economic Opportunities MEC, Alan Winde, said included in the pre-feasibility study, which was expected to be completed next month, was the appraisal of several potential sites.
“Preliminary site selections have been made, and we’re currently assessing these locations with the site owners to determine whether a valid business case exists for the park.”
Three sites, one at Cape Town International Airport, another in Stellenbosch and a third in Klapmuts are being evaluated as possible headquarters for the halaal park project.
However, the department stressed an informed decision would only be taken based on recommendations made in the Phase I report following the pre-feasibility study.
“This first phase will inform a full feasibility study, which is the second phase. As part of our process to boost halaal production and exports, the WCFFI are engaging with stakeholders to develop a halaal market framework. We want to ensure this project delivers jobs and growth, including amongst SMMEs, and the framework is seeking to map out how we can achieve this.”
The department indicated that before construction could start, a decision had to be taken whether the project was technically viable and economically feasible.
However, the provincial government had been talking about the prospects of getting a slice of the global halaal market which is worth $2.3 trillion (R32tn). The proposed halaal park will allow the Western Cape to double its share of the fast-growing market and increase the value of halaal exports.
Furthermore it was envisioned the proposed park could add 5 000 new jobs to the economy in the next five years.
Another important factor to the success of the halaal hub was sufficient interest from the private sector that would be determined during the second phase of the project.
According to Winde, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture was simultaneously completing a halaal value chain and strategy development study. This would determine which products would be the focus areas for the halaal industry's growth.
“We’re assessing the profile of the domestic and global halaal industry, its economic value and projected trends. Our provincial growth target for the halaal industry is to double the Western Cape’s share of the global halaal market, currently estimated to be around 0.3 percent, by 2025,” he added.
Winde said at this stage they were still in the process of identifying global partners and developing an export strategy. “Around 19 potential countries with close to 1 billion Muslim consumers have been identified as possible strategic target markets to target for Western Cape halaal-relevant exports.
“The provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the Department of Agriculture, as well as Wesgro, are working collaboratively to secure growing export markets for our halaal products,” he said.
CAPE ARGUS