The Western Cape’s bid to establish Atlantis as a hub for the green tech sector will be up for public participation shortly when Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, gazettes the region as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
He confirmed on Monday that he had received a recommendation from the Special Economic Zones Advisory Board.
Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities for the City of Cape Town, said the proposed SEZ was the culmination of public and private sector support over several years.
He said Davies had been encouraged by the fact that there was a further R1.8 billion in investment in the pipeline, and hundreds of jobs already created in the proposed SEZ.
“We know that South Africa is the world’s fastest-growing green economy. And in partnership with GreenCape, we are establishing the province as the hub of this growth. The Western Cape is home to 60% of the country’s green project developers and two thirds of South Africa’s green manufacturing happens in this province,” Winde said.
Mike Mulcahy, the CEO of GreenCape, added that the “cooperation and collaborative efforts” of the project technical team – made up of members from the City of Cape Town, Western Cape provincial government, the Department of Trade and Industry and GreenCape – demonstrated SA's support for the green economy.
“This is a big first step towards unlocking the full potential of a GreenTech-focused SEZ, but there remains a formidable amount of work to do,” he commented.
