Johannesburg - Wesgro and Into SA on Wednesday said they
had secured a R1.3 billion investment by Czech company Pegas Nonwovens to build
a R1.3 billion manufacturing facility in Atlantis, Western Cape.
Pegas is a global player in nonwoven fabrics
manufacturing, and its decision comes after eighteen months of negotiations and
five due diligence reports. It will be the largest single manufacturing foreign
direct investment that Wesgro and Into SA have secured since 2011.
The investment will create about 200 new employment
opportunities for local residents, who will be trained and educated in the
Czech Republic.
Construction and installation of the new production line
is scheduled to take 30 months. All building materials during the construction
phase as well as all raw material during operations will be sourced locally,
while the machines used in the production will use the latest German technology.
Read also: Brexit threatens Western Cape businesses: Wesgro
Pegas Nonwovens CEO Frantiçek Rezac says “the Western
Cape was a natural choice for us when considering our African expansion. Its
world class infrastructure and access to the rest of the continent provided us
an opportunity we could not pass on.”
Into SA CEO Ralph M Ertner adds the company is “incredibly
proud to have helped secure this momentous investment for the Cape”.
Later this year, the province will launch the Cape
Investor centre later as a one-stop-shop for investors to complete local,
provincial and national regulatory processes, under the professional guidance
of a single relationship manager. “We are also targeting R1 billion in economic
savings and benefits by 2019 through our Red Tape Reduction Unit,” says Premier
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
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