Address by the KwaZulu-Natal, MEC for Finance, the Honourable Belinda Francis Scott on the occasion of the Gala Dinner to welcome the Inaugural Turkish Airlines Flight to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport
Programme Director;
His Worship the Mayor of eThekwini Cllr, James Nxumalo;
The Chairman of the Turkish Airlines Mr Ilker Ayci;
The Chairperson of Dube Trade Port, Dr Bridgette Gasa;
Captains of Industry from Turkey
Dignitaries Present;
Members of the media;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
All protocol observed.
On behalf of the KZN Provincial Government I wish to express our deep appreciation for our maiden partnership with the Turkish Airlines. This gala dinner provides us with an opportunity to extend our warmest welcome to Turkish Airlines for the new Durban-Istanbul route. My government firmly believes that this partnership is the beginning of a long lasting relationship which will advance our growth and development aspirations.
Since its official opening in May 2010, Provincial Government has actively promoted King Shaka International Airport at various aviation forums. Our strong desire is to see King Shaka as an international passenger and cargo hub, servicing our country, the region and the world. The vision of His Excellence, the President of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, to elevate our airport to a fully-fledged international hub airport is being accomplished.
We are cognisant of the immense role played by aviation, as a catalyst for the advancement of our regional integration endeavours within the African continent and globally. With more than a billion people in 54 countries, Africa as a continent is bigger than the USA, Europe, China and India combined, and the time has come for Africa to make its presence felt on the world map through trade, tourism, transportation and logistics. For this to happen, increased connectivity between the 54 countries and the international markets is critical. Currently only 11% of Africa’s trade is intra-African compared with Asia, where half of its trade is intra-Asia. Ladies and gentlemen, it is against this phenomenon that the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government continues to forge strategic partnerships with regional and international airlines as vehicles for regional integration.
Provincial Government values the unparalleled efforts by the South African government in its endeavour to ensure that the continent implement the January 2015 decision of the AU Heads of State, with regard to the establishment of The Single African Air Transport Market by 2017. This endeavour is in honour of the Yamoussukro Decision for the liberalization of skies, and the establishment of a Single African Air Transport Market within the continent. The Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) advocates for "open skies" within Africa, which means more competition, more African players in the marketplace, more options for travellers and lower fares - which all contribute to increase the welfare of our people. These efforts undeniably augur well with our commitment to see the KwaZulu-Natal region connected globally.
Increasingly, air transportation is playing a catalytic role in stimulating economic growth and the creation of direct and indirect jobs in the economy. Given the importance of this sector to the economy, Provincial Government continues to invest in strategic infrastructure that will increase the efficiency of King Shaka international airport. These infrastructure plans are summed up in our ambitious, but important plans to develop the Durban Aerotropolis or Dube airport city. The Durban Aerotropolis is the development of an airport city that takes advantage of the connectivity of King Shaka international airport in terms of passenger and cargo movement.
This province has invested immensely in the Dube TradePort cargo hub and King Shaka International Airport. We are confident Turkish Airlines will benefit and take advantage of the efficiencies of King Shaka International airport and the Dube Trade Port, in processing movements of passengers and goods respectively. Going forward and as part of developing the Durban Aerotropolis, Provincial Government is leading in the efforts to develop efficient public transport systems to connect the airport with strategic source nodes of passengers and cargo. We cannot overemphasis the importance of the connectivity that the Turkish Airlines bring with it, to the new route between Durban and Istanbul in terms of passengers and cargo. Critically, this development integrates the province into the global community, ensuring that we can use the Turkish Airlines as a springboard to connect with more than 100 destinations.
Air transport also contributes positively to auxiliary sectors such as tourism and other service sectors. In terms of tourism, the phenomenal growth of international tourism over the last decade lends itself to the advancement of the air transport sector, the burgeoning of the middle class, economic progress of nations and the discovery of new forms of information and communications technology. In 2012, over half of all international tourists arrived at their destination by air. Similarly, the growth of air transport - which is the main component of civil aviation – is intrinsically connected to the expansion of tourism. The vast majority of international air passengers are travelling for tourism purposes, whether leisure or professional, and in many countries aviation is key for domestic tourism development.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government places tourism as an apex priority sector that is critical for the growth of passenger numbers at King Shaka International Airport. As part of the infrastructure drive, government is embarking on a number of programmes to grow KwaZulu-Natal’s tourism sector. These include, inter-alia, tourism resorts, the Drakensburg cable car, upgrading of regional airports and conservation areas. South Africa remains the most visited country in Africa having received about 9 million tourists in 2013. In terms of foreign tourists, KwaZulu-Natal is ranked third, receiving close to 800,000 foreign tourists, after the province's of Gauteng and the Western Cape. The province is, however, a popular destination for domestic tourists. Working with provincial, national and international stakeholders we have stepped up our efforts of attracting more tourists to KwaZulu-Natal.
We recognise that the private sector remains a crucial driver of economic activity in the province through its investment in the real economy to generate economic value and create jobs. Equally, the success of the Durban-Istanbul route requires the indispensible support of the private sector. We, therefore, call upon the KwaZulu-Natal business community to support our initiatives to increase connectivity at King Shaka International Airport.
We continue to link KwaZulu-Natal province with international markets. In the same way, working with Turkish authorities, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial Government will soon be arranging tourism, business and investment missions in both Turkey and KwaZulu-Natal, as we continue to deepen our economic ties with Turkey. We are cognisant that Defy, a Turkish company, is already operating in our province.
As government we reaffirm our commitment to improving the investment climate in the province. Such a conducive environment includes a well-established and extended physical infrastructure, but also requires a stable political environment, a strong growing economy, transparent policies, available and appropriately skilled personnel and cost effective services, comparable tax rates and issues of profit repatriation.
We will strive to continue to attract Turkish investments into the province and also to encourage our companies to invest in Turkey. We would like to assure the business community that KwaZulu-Natal is a safe haven for businesses to thrive, and we are ready to provide headquarters for any business looking forward to expand its operations.
Our tourism entities will also step up efforts in marketing the province to international markets as a tourism destination. We have already designed some marketing programmes to assist in marketing our strategic routes and the province. Through these efforts, we are certain that our regional integration efforts will grow from strength to strength.
This gala dinner, therefore, has a huge significance for our collective objective of growing the economy of KwaZulu-Natal through efficient global connectivity of King Shaka International Airport. We will forever be grateful to Turkish Airlines for choosing Durban’s King Shaka International Airport as your target destination in 2015. On behalf of the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal, we would like to further reaffirm our firm commitment to working with Turkish Airlines in making the Durban-Istanbul route a resounding success.
I thank you.
