President Jacob Zuma will on 10 July 2014 launch the First Automotive Works (FAW) South Africa assembly plant and operations in the COEGA Industrial Development Zone at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape.
This groundbreaking project is part of government's interventions in manufacturing as an important pillar of the economy and will help further attract foreign- investor confidence in South Africa. The major investment is also one of the outcomes of the good trade relations between South Africa and the People's Communist Republic of China.
In 2012, FAW announced that it will build a plant in South Africa because of the country's infrastructure.
The R600 million truck assembly plant, located in the Zone 2 of the COEGA IDZ is funded jointly by China FAW Group Corporation and the China-Africa Development Fund. The decision to build the FAW plant in South Africa is very significant from a global perspective, as it is one of the most important and largest investments made by a Chinese entity in the country to date.
This plant will contribute significantly to national goals for socio-economic development, enshrined in the definitive government policy on development including the National Development Plan, New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plans.
"The FAW investment is also of strategic importance to the country's economy, in particular the Nelson Mandela Bay and the greater Eastern Cape region in terms of generating Foreign Direct Investment that in turn will create sustainable jobs and provide opportunities for skills development and training,” said President Zuma.
The plant will initially assemble 5 000 trucks annually for the Sub-Saharan African market, where FAW plans to entrench itself as a leader in the local commercial vehicle market amongst the manufacturers and importers of Chinese-origin vehicles.
The details of the launch are as follows:
Date: 10 July 2014
Time: 11h00
Venue: FAW COEGA Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) Assembly Plant, Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth
We wish to request the media to please send their RSVPs to:
Karl Haechler
Cell: 084 887 7792
E-mail: karl.haechler@bm-africa.com
Shadi Baloyi
Cell: 078 095 7387
E-mail: shadi@po.gov.za
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203
E-mail: macmaharaj@icloud.com
