The Coega Development Corporation says this week's announcement by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan of massive cash injections for mega-projects, caps a week of important announcements for the Coega Industrial Development Zone.
Gordhan said infrastructure plans amount to R845-billion and this money will be spent on the expansion of the Coega IDZ as well as the East London and Richards Bay Industrial Development Zones.
Coega Development Corporation spokesperson, Ayanda Vilikazi, says they're aready commissioning one of the biggest investments this year of more than R1bn
rand by Chinese truck maker, FAW which is expected to create up to 2000 direct and indirect jobs.
"If you look at total investments earmarked for the Coega IDZ this year you are looking at around R140bn, so the news from the Ministry (Finance) and the premier (EC) stand in good regard in that way (sic)," he said.
The imminent announcement of the Mthombo Oil Refinery, a multibillion rand Chinese investment, the added investment in infrastructure by government and a new manganese corridor have cemented the Coega IDZ's position as a key investment destination, Vilakazi added.
"The news of the Mthombo Refinery adds to the boom we are experiencing thanks to the construction of the Chinese auto-maker FAW's R1-billion assembly plant at the end of this month," Vilakazi said.
Meanwhile, Ayanda Ramcwana of the East Industrial Development Zone Corporation says infrastructure spending is important for them because it helps to attract investors to the city.
"There is economic enabling infrastructure which is critical for people like us who are looking at attracting investors to come and locate here. For us, logistics is an important part of this," she said.
"Investment that is going to go for instance into the East London port is an exciting move for us," she said.
