Council gives go-ahead for Manufacturing Support Policy to spur investment in Cape Town’s 33 industrial hubs
Yesterday, City Council gave the greenlight for the Manufacturing Support Policy, which aims to ignite investment in Cape Town’s 33 industrial hubs. Read more below:
The policy is a refinement of the 2018 Investment Incentives Policy, which provided a range of financial and non-financial motivations to eligible investors in six targeted industrial areas.
‘The new Manufacturing Support Policy not only expands its focus to 33 areas around Cape Town, but is also simpler to administer and implement. It is also arriving at an especially critical time for our manufacturing industry as we’re aiming to grow trade and investments with source markets across Africa and elsewhere in the world,’ said Alderman James Vos, the Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth.
In summary, the new policy proposes:
- A continued focus on supporting the manufacturing sector due to the wide ranging impact of this sector on the economy in terms of job creation (from low to high-skilled labour), linkages to other sectors (logistics, warehousing) and fostering technological innovation;
- Extending the support packages to all the 33 industrial areas of Cape Town;
- Retaining the financial measures that support the fast-tracking of development applications;
- Providing a broader package of non-financial support measures;
- Focusing support measures on attracting new investments into Cape Town;
- Including support measures that encourage green technology investment; and
- Packaging the positive attributes of the City that makes it easier for business to operate within e.g. good infrastructure, good local governance, electricity grid stability.
‘The approval of the Manufacturing Support Policy this week coincides with the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African Investment Conference of new projects being secured for development in Cape Town.
‘These investments stem, in part, from ongoing engagements by the City. In these engagements, my officials and I cited our policies as mechanisms that pave the way for major investments that are a significant source of the 470 000 jobs added over the current local government term,’ said Alderman Vos.
Implementation of the Manufacturing Support Policy will commence following Council’s decision. The City will engage targeted stakeholders to operationalise the support measures across the identified industrial areas.
Investors and manufacturers seeking further information or support are encouraged to contact the City’s Investment Facilitation team via in*********************@**********ov.za.
