Two IDZs get underway

JIA and Dube trade port shelved for now Denver
Wright…
Richards Bay is
the only other
remaining IDZ
with present
potential.’ THE BIG plans for tax concession and duty-free industrial development zones (IDZs) in SA have now been reduced to a trickle – with only two of the original five proposed IDZs actually getting visibly underway. According to Denver Wright, branch manager of Röhlig Grindrod in Durban and East London, and webmaster of the company’s IDZ Consulting Services website, only East London and Coega remain currently viable, with a third at Richards Bay the most immediate of the future prospects. IDZ facilities at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) and the Dube Trade Port (DTP) at the proposed King Shaka airport in Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) have gone by the boards for the time being. JIA currently has nothing on the table and needs to find a new site, and DTP has dropped its plans for an IDZ. Effectively, Wright added, only Coega and EL are currently licensed and ready to accommodate prospective investors. “Indeed,” he told FTW, “East London has two investors who have already signed contracts to operate in that city’s IDZ and three at Coega. “In 12 months, these five investors will have industries on-site and will be ready to start manufacture in 2007. Richards Bay is the only other remaining IDZ with present potential – having the most sophisticated rail link, and no problem in bringing raw materials to the IDZ site. However, although on the drawing board, the port still has no container terminal. Of the three, Wright rates Coega as having the best potential to further develop its IDZ facility – as the new deep-water port begins to work up steam. “I don’t see anything else developing in the SA IDZ field, except possibly in the long-term,” he said. “So we need to concentrate on Coega, East London and Richards Bay for the time being.” SACD plans R65m
project in Cape Town