The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber says it welcomes many points in yesterday's State of the Province Address by Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, but it looks forward to more detail in the upcoming provincial budget allocations.
Chamber CEO Hevin Hustler said in a statement against the background of a calm and orderly SOPA held on Friday with the relevant decorum, Premier Masualle painted the picture of a stable and sound province. "As the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber we welcome many of the points in his address, but look forward to more detail in the upcoming provincial budget allocations," he said.
The Chamber was, however, disappointed that a waterfront development in Port Elizabeth was not mentioned. "We are disappointed that the big game changer for Nelson Mandela Bay, the development of the waterfront in the Port of Port Elizabeth, was not mentioned by Masualle. We call on the provincial government to urgently lobby Transnet and the National Department of Public Enterprises to expedite the move of the tank farm and manganese ore facility from the Port of Port Elizabeth to Coega," Hustler said.
He added that the sluggish economic growth of less than 1.2% per annum is of great concern to the Chamber. "The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber agrees with Masualle that we require in excess of a 5% growth target to secure sustainable jobs for the Eastern Cape. The Premier's focus on the six pillars of the Provincial Economic Development Strategy - namely agriculture, oceans economy, tourism, renewable energy, light manufacturing and the automotive industry - is welcomed. We call on the Premier to urgently engage on these six sectors with organised business bodies to ensure an enabling environment to unlock greater successes in these sectors of the economy."
"We welcome in particular the intense focus on developing the oceans economy and unlocking new opportunities that will benefit the Eastern Cape communities along our 800km coastline. These include the establishment of a fishing harbour at Port St Johns, Transnet's Maritime Training Centre in East London and the successful offshore bunkering services in Algoa Bay. In particular we look forward to more coordinated efforts between the private sector, government, academia and the broader community to unlock the full potential of this new economy for our region," Hustler said.
