Cape Argus

Saldanha Bay gets developmen­t clout

- LYNNETTE JOHNS

THE PROPOSED Saldanha Bay Industrial Developmen­t Zone (IDZ) will now become a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under a new bill, giving the project more clout.

The IDZ programme was started in 2000 to support industrial developmen­t, with a special focus on export-oriented, value-added manufactur­ing. A SEZ is seen as an important tool for long-term industrial and economic developmen­t.

The government will support SEZS through special arrangemen­ts and support measures that are often different from those that apply in the rest of the country.

Later this month, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will go on a countrywid­e public consultati­on process to discuss the Special Economic Zone Bill. A public meeting will be held in the Western Cape next Tuesday to discuss the bill.

Michael Bagraim, president of the Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the latest move yesterday. “This is good news. It looks like the (national) government is endorsing the Saldanha Bay initiative.”

He said changing from an IDZ to an SEZ would mean increased investment and more job creation.

The proposal for the Saldanha Bay IDZ was first mooted in 2008. It went through a rigorous process, including a feasibilit­y study, and last week it was announced that the provincial government had consented to apply to the national government for the area to be designated.

“The DTI is taking note of this project and it appears that they will use this as a blueprint for other SEZS,” Bagraim said. “The business community has been waiting for this for more than five years and hopefully this will not be an exercise in futility, but an exercise in getting things done.”

There are three operationa­l IDZS in the country that will also become SEZS: one at Coega in Port Elizabeth; one in East London; and another in Richards Bay. The OR Tambo Internatio­nal Airport is also an IDZ, but it is not yet operationa­l.

The cabinet should ratify the Saldanha zone by the end of the year. In the Saldanha feasibilit­y study it was noted that after 25 years, the IDZ would generate a minimum annual return of R11.2 billion for the economy and would create 12 000 sustainabl­e jobs.

The best-case scenario indicates it could generate an annual economic return of R31.6bn and sustain 29 000 jobs.

The study also found that there was sufficient non-environmen­tally sensitive land upon which the developmen­t could take place. OUTPUT at Anglo American Platinum would probably be flat this year after it fell short of its target last year due to a spike in safety stops, the top producer of the metal said yesterday.

Reporting 2011 results, the group said it planned to refine and sell between 2.5 million and 2.6 million ounces of platinum in 2012.

Last year it initially targeted 2.7 million ounces but produced 2.53 million ounces, as it was forced to halt production 81 times for safety reasons.

As expected, 2011 headline earnings a share fell almost 30 percent to R13.65. – Reuters

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