Coega is IDZ flagship - Hartle

Ed Richardson
THE COEGA Development Corporation believes that a combination of extensive land resources and the detailed financial, engineering and environmental modelling necessary to provide world class infrastructure make the Coega Industrial Development Zone the best location for foreign direct investment
in South Africa.
"Coega is the flagship IDZ project in South Africa and provides a template for best-practice IDZ development and management," says Coega Development Corporation communications manager Raymond Hartle.
"Comprehensive planning has gone into the Coega IDZ. The advantage for the investor is that we are able to provide a vast body of knowledge to facilitate every aspect of the investment, from determining where the best location for a particular factory might be, to assisting in the environmental impact assessment processes.
"This will help reduce the time to market by months, if not years," he says.
"Of course, we also have the advantage of being able to select from 12 000 hectares of totally undeveloped land - something available in few other industrial zones in the world, let alone in South Africa."
The lack of existing infrastructure means that the CDC is able to configure the provision of infrastructure in accordance with the needs of individual investors, without compromising what might be required within the IDZ in 20 or 30 years time.
"Providing they meet the very stringent environmental standards in the Coega IDZ, investors are not constrained by having to plan around existing developments and infrastructure."
Work has already begun on providing the bulk infrastructure needed in the zone, he adds.
"We have already upgraded the potable water supply to the IDZ, and tenders have also been published by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) for the provision of bulk electricity, as well as the building of a main arterial road in the IDZ."
Further tenders are being prepared and will be issued in coming months, with the CDC anticipating spending about R300 million over the next year on infrastructure for the IDZ.
Construction is also under way on a haul road between the Coega Kop quarry and the site of the Ngqura port, part of the work required for the construction of the port. The National Ports Authority has issued the main marine tender for the port, which will be developed over three years at a cost of R2,65 billion.
It is this port which will give investors a huge advantage in the global market-place," says Hartle. "Ngqura is unique in that it is in the centre of all the major East-West trade routes."
Critically, however, the port is also intended to meet South Africa's future infrastructural needs as growth in international trade picks up.
Hartle says the physical strengths of the Coega IDZ are matched by the strengths of the CDC team.
"Anyone investing in the zone will be able to call on the expertise of one of the top development teams anywhere in the world. They have international experience, vast local knowledge and - most importantly - the necessary passion to ensure that the expectations of government as a shareholder in the IDZ, investors and local communities which stand to benefit from job opportunities, are met.
"The same 'can-do' team that pioneered the IDZ concept in South Africa is now making Coega happen."