Durban - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) Nomusa Dube-Ncube has welcomed a foreign investment of more than R3 billion at the Dube TradePort to welcome.
Dube-Ncube was joined by other MECs who are part of the Economic Sectors, Investment, Employment and Infrastructure Development (ESEID) cluster of the executive council of the provincial government.
The MEC and her municipal counterparts visited Samsung Electronics with a focus on the manufacture of their Quantum Dot display television set as well as locally manufactured refrigerators.
Dube-Ncube also visited CHEM Energy, who is responsible for the manufacture of fuel cell products that are used in off-grid telecommunications power supply.
This follows Dube-Ncube’s National Council of Provinces (NCOP) address on Tuesday in which she was optimistic about turning the Covid-19 pandemic into an economic opportunity.
“At Dube TradePort there are nine investments worth R3.2bn that have been approved and are not yet operational due to the lockdown. These investments present opportunities for emerging small players and will create an estimated 2,342 direct jobs.”
Dube-Ncube highlighted that the EDTEA’s economic reconstruction and transformation plan was approved last Wednesday by the Provincial Executive Council (PEC), which is chaired by KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala.
This plan was also presented before the KZN Economic Council last Friday.
The MEC said she planned to achieve this primarily through job creation.
“As we move forward, we expect an investment of more than R18 billion at the Dube TradePort’s second phase of 45 hectares of prime industrial land,” said Dube-Ncube on Friday.