The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) plans to spend
R216 million on renovations at five industrial parks in the country.
“Last year, the dti spent more than R180 million for the
upgrading of six industrial parks spread across five provinces in the first
phase of our Revitalisation of Industrial Parks Programme. We have set aside
R216 million from our critical infrastructure incentive programme to start revitalising
five more this year,” said Minister Davies.
The first phase of the revitalisation of the Nkowankowa,
Ekandustria, Bodirelo, Phuthaditjhaba and Garankuwa Industrial Parks is due to
commence after their budgets were approved late last year.
The revitalisation programme is implemented in four phases
focusing on various areas, with the first being the upgrading of security
infrastructure.
The dti identified a need to revitalise industrial parks
located in various parts of the country, mainly the former homelands, as part
of efforts to promote industrialisation, manufacturing and job creation
“Our officials are already in the process of conducting
inception meetings to discuss the implementation of the project with key
stakeholders. The positive impact of the programme on the economy on the areas
where the parks are located is felt as soon as the implementation begins, as
most of the labour and construction materials are procured from those areas,”
Minister Davies said.
He said the department would like to see more industrial
parks operating as centres of excellence and beehives of economic activity,
contributing to the growth and diversification of the economy.
“The revitalisation process will ensure that the upgraded
parks appeal to private investors, provide a conducive environment and attract
investments that will create jobs and assist in promoting economic
transformation,” said the Minister.
The dti is applying a holistic approach to the
revitalisation initiative to ensure that enterprises based there participate
meaningfully in the mainstream economy in order to achieve the National
Development Plan (NDP) and Industrial Policy Development Plan (IPAP)
objectives.
Parks must be efficiently run to facilitate market access
for goods manufactured there. They must provide financial and non-financial
support and be clustered along industrial sector and value-chain lines. – SAnews.gov.za
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