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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S FOREWORD
OUR 2019/20 FINANCIAL YEAR IS ALMOST OVER, AND ONCE AGAIN, IT HAS BEEN A DEMANDING AND EXCITING YEAR, IN WHICH WE HAVE
BEEN CHALLENGED TO LOOK AT HOW WE DO BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY. AS A RESULT, WE WILL BE INVOLVED IN KEY SECTORS THAT WE WOULD NOT ORDINARILY HAVE BEEN, SUCH AS THE AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIER PARK IN CONJUNCTION WITH DUBE TRADEPORT. WE ARE PUTTING TOGETHER A PLAN TO ATTRACT INVESTORS WITH THE INTENTION OF HAVING INVESTORS LINED UP WHEN WE OPEN THE PARK.
A BIG CRITICISM IS THAT INVESTORS GO TO DURBAN, RICHARDS BAY OR OTHER TRADITIONAL BUSINESS CENTRES, AND NOT ENOUGH INVESTMENT IS DIRECTED INLAND. TO ADDRESS THIS, WE ARE IN TALKS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE & INDUSTRY TO REVIEW THEIR MODEL FOR REVITALISING INDUSTRIAL PARKS.
NEVILLE MATJIE
Chief Executive Of cer
Two inaugural events that standout as highlights of our year were: the Youth in Business Indaba and the inaugural KZN Investor Awards. Held in June, the Youth in Business Indaba was over- subscribed, so we held two back-to-back sessions of the event. It was a clear indication of the need amongst our youth. The investor awards were well received by the province’s captains of industry and business. I believe this recognition is well overdue, as very little is done to recognise companies and investors who continue to invest in KwaZulu-Natal, providing employment and economic support.
We had a strategy session with our MEC of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), Nomusa Dube-Ncube. She challenged us to think as if there was no box, when looking at what we can be involved in within our mandate, but which takes cognisance of what is happening in SA and globally in terms of attracting investors.
In partnership with the DTI, we would like to rebrand and remarket KwaZulu- Natal’s industrial parks, which are mostly owned by our sister organisation - Ithala Development Finance Corporation. With the KZN Growth Coalition, we have put together a rapid response team to ensure that we can intervene as timeously as possible during protest action. We have a part time team at our one-stop- shop, who can mediate or get involved as quickly as possible to avoid issues becoming uncontrollable. In politically linked situations that are beyond our control, we appeal to leadership to become involved, and they have been very proactive. We have obtained some funding from EDTEA, to assist companies in distress, not to bail them out, but to see how we can effectively intervene to prevent them from closing. This may mean engaging with, or going into partnership with the private sector, to provide the necessary assistance.
Through the one-stop-shop, we also want to have a presence at municipalities
in key regions of KZN. We have seen a lot of large scale projects delayed purely because of legislative frameworks.
By having a presence, we will have a better grip on the bottlenecks and we can engage with government to collectively agree on turning the project around quickly. This is the same concept that our President is advocating – make it easier for investors to do business. If we can deal with the bottlenecks, it will improve the ease of doing business, ensuring that we retain businesses and attract new business.
EDTEA is driving 4IR and the discussion around hemp/cannabis for medicinal use. Some of our programmes this year will be packaged in a way that we can include these. Our aim is to be ready with a business model when government makes a decision on how to operationalise the use of cannabis in SA. In addition to all this, we have some interesting projects on the cards. The most exciting is the potential of establishing a Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) for clothing and textiles, which is a vital sector in KZN. While there has been some criticism of this, there is absolute commitment from the President, to Minister of Trade & Industry, competition commission, KZN premier and MEC, to ensure that the SEZ is not just in the form of a structure, but that investments come in.
We have been tasked to look at a model for aquaculture, in particular fish farming, for the province; we are working with Dube TradePort to recruit investors for the manufacturing of light aircraft, as well as the pharmaceutical sector and we are working with the Richards Bay IDZ on the oil and gas sector. What has saddened us a lot is the introduction of US tariffs outside of AGOA on steel and aluminium, which is unfortunately affecting us badly. We have seen some of these companies disinvesting, and others in Newcastle, Richards Bay and Pietermaritzburg are hinting at being squeezed. This worries us deeply, so we are trying to explore the retention of these industries.
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