President Jacob Zuma will be in Port Elizabeth tomorrow, Wednesday, 28 September for talks with representatives of the automobile and automobile components sectors.
The President, who will be accompanied by Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, will visit all three motor manufacturers in Nelson Mandela Bay - Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford as well as the Logistics Park in Uitenhage.
In a statement yesterday, Eastern Cape Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas said the President had been planning to visit the province for some time to engage with the provincial government on how it planned to support the automotive sector.
He said the visit had taken on added significance given the current turmoil in the global economy and the need to ensure that the province was better prepared than last time to combat the potential fallout.
Jonas pointed out that in addition to significant jobs losses, during the 2007-2009 economic crisis the Eastern Cape had lost some critical component manufacturers.
"The sector does appear to be recovering but we need to be extremely careful of the risks brewing in the global economy particularly in Europe the most strategic partner for the Eastern Cape automotive sector".
Jonas said the province wanted to be "the heart of the African Automotive sector" and believed that to achieve this it would need to establish an automotive cluster support initiative as had happened elsewhere in the world to enhance the competitiveness of the sector.
"Increasingly regional auto clusters across the world are driving regional competitiveness programmes including those driven by the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provincial governments.
"We have now launched the process towards establishing an automotive cluster support initiative and we now have the opportunity to brief the President and Minister Patel on how we wish to advance this process and so not only safeguard the sector but also enhance its competitiveness."
Programme for the visit of President Jacob Zuma to Port Elizabeth Wednesday, 28 September to meet with representatives of the automotive and automotive component sectors
- 10am to 11am: Press conference at Coega Development Corporation
- 11am to 1pm: Closed meeting with representatives of the automotive and automotive component sectors
- 2pm to 4pm: Factory visit.
Members of the media are advised to liaise with the motor companies with regard to the factory visits.
For more information contact:
Nkosohlanga Mboniswa
Cell: 082 200 4756
