KZN promotes investment opportunities in Cairo during IATF

Investment opportunities in KwaZulu-Natal were placed firmly on the table at discussions hosted in Egypt, alongside the Intra-Africa Trade Fair. Photo: Supplied

Investment opportunities in KwaZulu-Natal were placed firmly on the table at discussions hosted in Egypt, alongside the Intra-Africa Trade Fair. Photo: Supplied

Published Dec 18, 2018

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DURBAN - Investment opportunities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) were placed firmly on the table at high-level panel discussion hosted in Cairo, Egypt, alongside the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF). 

Speaking at the event, Ina Cronje, Chairperson of the Board of Trade and Investment KZN said, "We’re on the eastern seaboard on the Indian Ocean. Our coastline is close on 600 kilometres long, with two major harbours, or sea ports. We also have a state of the art international airport, which is very good for cargo. Then we also have two strategic economic zones - one is placed at the Dube Trade Port and the one at the Richards Bay Harbour. And there are great incentive, tax breaks, for investors who are interested in going there". 

Bringing together South African and International business people alongside the Intra-Africa Trade Fair held in Cairo, the breakfast aimed to highlight the variety of investment and tourism opportunities in KwaZulu-Natal.

Investment opportunities in KZN can be found in the following sectors including Tourism and Property Development; Logistics Services, Medical and Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution, Electronics Manufacturing and Assembly, Aerospace and Aviation-linked manufacturing amongst other things. 

The province also boasts a large labour pool, diverse cultures, the ideal position to be the trade gateway to Africa, highly competitive land and building costs, world-class transport and tele-communications infrastructure, advocacy and lobbying for investor incentives; and an idyllic climate and lifestyle.

There is also the vibrant ICT sector with techno parks and innovation hubs, and opportunities in manufacturing, renewable and clean energy, medical tourism and healthcare.

Placing KwaZulu-Natal within the framework of the South Africa economic landscape, Zanele Sanni, Chief Director of Trade Invest Africa, commented, "Along the side-line of the Intra-Africa Trade Fair, what we would do as national government is to provide support to would-be investors from Egypt who would be interested in coming to KZN". 

“We have incentives along the competitive cluster that would help investors to locate there, but additionally when the investor is then located in South Africa, where we have, on the continent, the largest number of multi-national corporations, we also have a mandate of helping South African and African investors traders to then broaden their goods into the rest of the continent. For instance, under the SADC Protocol we would then facilitate specific missions to go out into the specific regions and back the specific incentives that we provide,” added Sanni.

Long-standing traditional ties have been developed between South Africa – including KwaZulu-Natal – and its top trading partners and other important focus markets. South Africa is growing increasingly as a trading partner for the European Union, and is a full member of the World Trade Organisation.

As a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), it offers trade opportunities within Southern Africa.

BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

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