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The Maritime Sector was a sector on its own "but is also a key enabler/driver for a whole range of other opportunities", Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas said on Wednesday.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural Eastern Cape Ports and Maritime Conference in Port Elizabeth, Jonas noted that the role of universities, and NMMU in particular, in enabling this maritime cluster was "significant".
"At the heart of this must be the triple helix of government, universities, and industry working together to realise synergies in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts".
Jonas said that the opportunities in the ports and maritime sector included logistics and supply chain management that were "undoubtedly among the most critical dimensions of regional competitiveness.
"This includes shipping/cargo operations and forwarding and clearing agents as well as legal, banking, insurance and auditing services within the maritime sector that play an important role in transaction management."
He said a second opportunity related to ship building and repair.
"We currently have very limited ship building and repairing capabilities and with the shipping volumes set to increase, we should expect a significant rise in the market demand for repair work. We are ideally situated to create a ship building, repair and decommissioning value chain, which can also synergise with our plans for steel production facilities and smelters."
He said naval and security related opportunities for the sector were obvious but could also support niche sub-sectors, leisure and tourism.
"The Port Elizabeth waterfront and the untapped Wild Coast tourism, are but a few of the many maritime tourism opportunities on offer. We also have commercial fishing and fish farming as well as land based mariculture. This will open huge opportunities for fish processing, cold storage and logistics."
(Source: Metro Minute to subscribe mail metminutes@iafrica.com)
