EKURHULENI is ready to welcome the international world seeking business opportunities in South Africa.Addressing a full house of delegates attending the 18th China International Fair for Investment in Xiamen (China), the executive mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele, said the city’s Aerotropolis economic trajectory, coupled with its prowess as the economic hub of the southern hemisphere, made it the best destination for investment.
Countries attending the event included Turkey, USA, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Australia and Ghana. This was the 10th sitting of the forum which deals with issues of urban planning and management; environmental management; economic growth; ecological progress; and the growth of the cultural and creative industry.
“The City of Ekurhuleni has endless opportunities. Our strengths of being the hub of manufacturing in the country, that of being a city that is home to the biggest railway station in the southern hemisphere of the continent in Germiston, and being criss-crossed by all the major freeways that link the region with the rest of the country and neighbouring countries, make us one of the preferred destinations for investment in South Africa,” Gungubele pointed out.
Looking at how South Africa’s economy has evolved over the years, Gungubele said following South Africa’s readmission into the global trading arena in 1994, the country’s trade footprint has evolved over the years.
“New markets have emerged wherein traditional relationships between the North and South manifested themselves through the conclusion of the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union.
“While the share of exports to some traditional markets, such as the United Kingdom, Japan and Europe were prominent in the early stages of our re-admission, the 2008 global economic meltdown has reversed those gains, hence the decline. In addition to the effects of the global economic meltdown, the top-down structure of the North-South relationship has necessitated a comprehensive review, especially with the acknowledgement that trade has been one-sided in favour of the North, and the World Trade Organisation’s process had not effected the required change in the global trading system.
“As a result it could not create industrial capacity to produce exportable goods which would contribute towards addressing the trade imbalances,” he elaborated.
“In this regard, as countries in the South we have had to reconsider our relationship with countries in the North by leveraging internal industrial capabilities that could be harnessed and capitalised upon. To this end, China, as the second biggest economy in the world, has emerged as South Africa’s largest export trading partner since 2009, with its share of non-gold merchandise exports amounting to 12.9% in 2012, compared to 0.8% in 1994.
“South Africa’s bilateral trade with China increased by 32% last year to R270bn from the 2012 figure of R205bn and we want to create the right environment for this figure to grow even bigger.”
“As the gateway to Africa, Ekurhuleni enables access to the markets of the world’s second largest continent, with 30% of the globe’s mineral reserves, and one billion people.”
“South Africa is open to working with business to improve the country’s economy, attract much-needed foreign investment as well as creating an environment that eases doing business with the country,” Gungubele concluded.
