Premier David Makhura: Closing remarks at Infrastructure Investment Conference

Closing remarks by Gauteng Premier David Makhura at the Inaugural Infrastructure Investment Conference at Galagher Estate, Johannesburg

Programme Director, Mr Victor Kgomoeswana; Members of the Executive Council;
Executive Mayors and Members of Mayoral Committees;
Our international guests from Katanga province in the DRC, City of Chongqing in China and Singapore;
Our Director General, Heads of Departments and City Managers; Leaders of Business Organisations and CEOs of Private Corporations; CEOs of State Owned Enterprises and Government Agencies; Entrepreneurs, Investors and Infrastructure Experts;
Ladies and gentlemen:

We have now come to the end of our ground-breaking Inaugural Infrastructure Investment Conference, hereinafter referred to as the First GIIC.

We convened this Conference the intention to achieve four objectives:

  • To share with you our compelling vision of the Gauteng City Region and unpack the ten-pillar programmer of Transformation, Modernisation and Re-industrialisation through which we seek to turn into a globally competitive City Region that is seamlessly integrated, economically inclusive and socially cohesive; a leading economy in the African continent which is underpinned by smart, innovation-driven, knowledge-based, ecologically sustainable and future-oriented industries; an activist, responsive, accountable and clean government and an active citizenry.
  • To share with you key  elements of  our 30-year Gauteng City Region Infrastructure Master Plan and solicit your views on how we can build the state-of-the art and world-class infrastructure that will be the backbone and vehicle through which we will transform, modernise and re-industrialise our province and make it a preferred destination for investment and tourism for many decades into the future.
  • To put forward specific bankable infrastructure projects which require immediate private sector funding.
  • Last but not least, to enlist private sector support and build enduring partnership on infrastructure development over the next fifteen years.

Judging by the positive response and feedback we received from yesterday's plenary sessions and during the gala dinner as well as the report-back from today's parallel sessions, this conference has been a phenomenal successful that exceeded our expectations.

There is no longer any doubt that our vision is compelling and our infrastructure plans are sound. There is clarity and support for the direction Gauteng is taking over the next fifteen years.

Let me thank, in particular the Singapore’s High Commissioner to South Africa and the delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo who have stayed with us throughout the Conference.

Allow me also to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the office of the Minister of Human Settlements, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu for joining us today for this Infrastructure Investment Conference. I know that although the Minister was unable to give the closing address to the conference, she fully supports our infrastructure plans regarding mega human settlements and post-apartheid cities.

The presence and addresses by Minister Jeff Radebe and Minister Ibrahim Patel bear testimony to the reality that ours was a Conference whose success and outcome has wide-ranging support and implications not only for our province but also our country.

We are humbled by the message that the Ministers brought to this Conference that Gauteng must do everything necessary to maintain its status as the leading economy in the country and a significant contributor to the growth of the our country’s economy and that of our continent

We are encouraged that national  government sees in us a reliable partner in driving infrastructure investment in our country.

We take away from this Conference one of the key messages from Minister Patel that countries invest in infrastructure in order to be rich and not because they are rich.

I take this opportunity to thank all the more than 1700 delegates who took time to join us for this conference, an overwhelming majority of whom were direct stakeholders in the area of infrastructure development.

We had CEO’s of major local and international private sector companies joining us at this Conference. CEO’s of our state-owned enterprises also graced our Conference. Major financial institutions were also here.

This contributed to making ours a Conference that brought together partners in infrastructure development across all sectors.

We convened this conference with the aim of strengthening transformative partnerships between the private sector and government.

As we look back on our deliberations over the past two days; we can say without fear of contradiction that the private sector has responded positively to our call for partnerships in infrastructure development and growing the Gauteng economy.

The words of the CEO of the JSE, Ms Nicky Newton King, correctly capture the key message coming out of this Conference.

Addressing us yesterday Ms Newton King said; “Business and government have a shared interest in the success of the country….we need to move away from a consumption led economy. Business needs to find innovative ways to respond to the Gauteng’s government’s invitation to do things differently.”

We are happy that the banks, through the Managing Director of the Banking Association of South Africa, Mr Cas Coovadia, have pledged to support some of our major infrastructure projects and re-industrialisation initiatives.

In the same vein Minister Radebe said; “We need to find more effective ways of working together between the private and the public sector to address our challenges. Government is committed to removing all obstacles to working together and we are sincere when we say we need the private sector to work with us. We have only one country - South Africa- and we have no choice but to make it work.”

We were also encouraged by the quality of presentations that were delivered at this Conference. Thirty two high quality presentations were made at this Conference. These will be available on the Conference website. These presentations contributed to enhancing the quality of the conversations that we had at this Conference.

Now more than ever before we are clear on what the infrastructure requirements for the Gauteng City Region are. We are also clear on the kind of strategic partnerships we need to respond to these requirements.

I therefore take this opportunity to thank our speakers, moderators and facilitators for enriching deliberations at this conference.

We are also pleased that all the infrastructure projects we presented for partnerships with the private sector drew overwhelming support from the private sector.

We note with appreciation that the pitching session was over- subscribed. Most importantly, there is huge interest in all the projects presented to test appetite in the market. We will follow-up on those whom have expressed interest.

Programme Director, some of the key themes that emerged from Conference are:

  • The need to Strengthen Public, Private Partnerships
  • The need to market and promote Gauteng more aggressively as an attractive investment destination for FDI.
  • The need for government to leverage the knowledge and skills from the private sector to avoid “reinventing the wheel”
  • Business and government must be open to looking at alternative funding options and not only use traditional funding sources, as government cannot provide all the funding.

Programme Director, we depart from this Conference confident that Gauteng is on a different trajectory! A better future beckons for our people!

It is these partnerships that will help us move the Gauteng City Region forward. Indeed it through these partnerships that we will continue to strengthen our position as the gateway to the continent and a leading economy in our country and in the continent.

Allow me now to announce to this conference that Second Gauteng Infrastructure Investment Conference will be on the 27th to the 28th of July next year.

In order to show that the First GIIC was not a talk-shop, in the next twelve months we will launch and fast-track the rollout of some of the major infrastructure projects discussed here.

By the time we meet in the next conference in 2016, we will give a report on substantial progress made since this conference.

For instance, over the next few weeks, together with the Executive Mayors of Johannesburg and Tshwane, we will announce the beginning of work on enhancing energy security with a specific focus on renewable energy and refurbishing of coal-fired stations.

The work on the building of new post-apartheid cities and new logistics is already underway in different development corridors of the province, especially in Sedibeng, West Rand and Johannesburg.

By July 2016, the Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni and I will report major progress on the rollout of the twenty-nine Aerotropolis projects and new logistics hubs.

The same applies to the progress being made in the rollout of public transport and broadband infrastructure across the Gauteng City region.

We must demonstrate in deeds and words that the GIIC is a place for serious business regarding infrastructure development and investment.

We look forward to see all of you in the Second GIIC. Let’s get our economy working!

We mean business! Thank you.

Province
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