Remarks by Minister Parks Tau at the 2nd Second International Special Economic Zones Conference “Reigniting Industrialisation through World-Class SEZs”, Durban Exhibition Centre, KwaZulu-Natal
EXHIBITION OPENING AND TOUR
Programme Director, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal,
Honourable Thamsanqa Ntuli,
MEC for Economic Development in KZN, Rev. Zondi,
Distinguished Exhibitors,
Investors and Delegates,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
This exhibition is the working floor of South Africa's Second International Special Economic Zones Conference. Our plenary sessions set the policy direction. This floor shows the policy in practice. Thirteen Special Economic Zones are designated across eight of South Africa's nine provinces. Two hundred and twenty-four companies operate within them.
They have invested a combined R31.7 billion, a net increase of R17.2 billion over the past eight years. They have created 28,821 direct jobs. The dtic has supported this performance with R12 billion in top structure and bulk infrastructure since inception. The stands in this hall represent that investment in concrete form.
I ask delegates to move beyond the podium conversation this week and into the detail available on this floor: the incentive packages, the site readiness, and the investor case studies that sit behind our headline numbers. Three results deserve specific mention as I open this exhibition.
Ford's expansion at the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone has unlocked R16 billion in private investment, alongside R5.9 billion from other TASEZ-based investors, delivering 3,333 direct jobs to date. Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone has moved from slow early traction to a pipeline of 24 potential investors worth an estimated R247 billion.
The second phase of the Nyanza Light Metals titanium dioxide project has reached financial close on a R14.5 billion investment. It will create more than 800 direct jobs once fully operational. These are the results, produced by companies represented in this hall today. Let me also tell you what else this conference has in store, because this exhibition floor is only the beginning. Through the course of today, delegates can join export masterclasses and fireside chats hosted with DHL Express, SAFLEC and TIKZN, built for manufacturers and SMEs who are ready to export or already exporting.
Tonight, we gather for the Gala Dinner and the SEZ Achievement Awards, where we recognise the zones, investors and leaders who have turned this Programme's targets into results, which will be addressed by His Excellency President Ramaphosa.
Tomorrow, Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivers our keynote address. He will be followed by five panels bringing together voices you do not often hear on the same stage: Ford Africa, Aspen Pharmacare, AfreximBank, DP World and Transnet on why investors should treat SEZs as destinations of choice; premiers, executive mayors and the Development Bank of Southern Africa on SEZs as engines of spatial industrial development; the AfCFTA Secretariat alongside counterparts from Eswatini and Mozambique on cross-border collaboration; our development finance institutions on financing SEZ infrastructure; and, to close, a panel, on what it means to re-imagine SEZs for this country's industrialisation.
I say this because I want every exhibitor and investor in this hall to understand what these two days are meant to produce. We expect to progress the designation of two further zones: Fetakgomo Tubatse and Vaal. We expect new investment commitments and partnership agreements.
We are tabling an independent World Bank review of our SEZ Programme, and we will use it to finalise a revised SEZ Implementation Model, one that brings in more private-sector-developed industrial parks, stronger non-financial incentives, and a formal process for turning around zones that are underperforming.
We are using this conference to strengthen the export pathways that our zones can access through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
I declare this Exhibition Area officially open. I thank you.
