Special economic zones declared top priority
PLATINUM valley special economic zones (SEZs), one in the north West and another in Limpopo, are already at prefeasibility study level and will be among the top priorities of the newly established SEZ board, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies revealed yesterday on the sidelines of the Manufacturing Indaba in Ekurhuleni.
”We also worked with the provinces on identification of possible SEZs that could be proclaimed, one in each province, and some provinces will need more than one, this work has reached the level of feasibility or prefeasibility studies.
“The first thing that the SEZ board will have to do is engage with those, they include a platinum valley based SEZ, one in the North West and another one in Limpopo. They include quite a number of concepts around SEZs thats where this is going,” Davies said.
In another development, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) had engaged with China to address the trade imbalance between the two countries.
He said a contact group on economics and trade had adopted a template of value added trade that South Africa could promote with its Chinese counterparts based on reviews of comparative advantage.
“We have been working with the Chinese for a number of years, since 2011. After the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was signed in 2010 there was acknowledgement that there was a structural imbalance in our trade.
“That imbalance is captured by the fact that in our main exports to China the top 10 are all mineral commodities and the top 10 imports from China start with cellphones and other value added products.
Buying missions
“We have shared with China 10 value added products that we believe we can supply to them as well as 10 investment opportunities in value added activities in South Africa.
“We want them to bring buying missions to our country so we can show them more comprehensively the value added products we want to bring to China. In our top 10 exports to China we want at least one value added Davies said.
The second annual Manufacturing Indaba is aimed at bringing together business owners, industry leaders, the government and other role players to explore new trading opportunities, establish business networks and generally co-operate in the development of the manufacturing sector in the country.
The government will use the opportunity to tell the manufacturing industry about its most recent Industrial Policy Action Programme as well as the City of Ekurhuleni’s ambitious Aestropolis project.
According to Manufacturing Indaba literature, Africa represents a large and growing opportunity for fast-moving consumer goods companies and retailers and the rapid expansion of the continent’s consumer class should convince companies to think differently.