Trade and investment promotion agency for the Western Cape, Wesgro, has announced that, “despite economic challenges”, it has secured R691 million in investment for the province during first quarter of 2017.
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris said that its Investment Promotion Unit (IPU) had undertaken three international investment promotion missions and secured four major investments. These investments will contribute R591 million to the Cape’s economy and create 370 jobs in the process.
Furthermore, Wesgro’s Agriculture Investment Unit (AIU) has also secured a local investment for the province valued at R100 million and is expected to create 450 jobs in the agri-processing sector which has been identified as a key priority within the Western Cape government's Project Khulisa strategy.
With a number of key investments still in the pipeline, Harris pointed out that the IPU and AIU would, over the next financial quarter, embark on missions to China, Hong Kong and Canada as well as the United States and United Kingdom to promote investment opportunities in the province.
“We invest billions of rands into infrastructure development each year and continue to work even harder to proactively engage investors on the wealth of opportunities available to them in Cape Town. These results prove that we have a lot to offer the world and show that Cape Town is open for business,” said City of Cape Town mayor, Patricia de Lille.
“The provincial economy has become even stronger, despite the drought, economic and political shocks. We’ve seen investment sustained and good performance in Project Khulisa’s focus sectors, specifically in tourism and agri-processing,” added Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde.
