China lauds SA for best special economic zone
Songtian Lin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, described the SEZ located in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro in the Eastern Cape Province as a good case study for Africa and the world.
“I’ve been to many developing countries and industrial development zones, and the Coega SEZ is by far the best of them all,” he said.
He said CDC’s achievements in terms of the number of operational investors, currently at 40, infrastructure development, expertise & team work of the Coega staff, skills development and training centre and organisational performance were impressive.
CDC, released its mid-year investment performance report last week, highlighting it had signed eight new investors exceeding its mid-year performance target of three.
Last year, the CDC signed 16 new investors, exceeding a target of seven.
Total investment contribution by 16 new investors signed last year was R11, 685 billion (US$ 873,5 million).
Over the past six years, the CDC has attracted 77 new investors with a combined investment value of R47,7 billion.
A significant number of investors are Chinese.
Charles Manuel, Minister Counsellor (Economic), South African Embassy, Beijing, said this was in line with “very good” relations between china and South Africa.
“The South African government continues to create an enabling environment for Chinese investors,” he added.
– CAJ News
