R1.3bn deal signed to build seven factories and create 4 000 jobs in IDZ A SOUTH African and South Korean business group this week sealed a deal of R1.3-billion which will see seven multi-industry factories spring up in the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), creating 4 000 skilled jobs. Construction on the first phase of the massive capital and skills boost for Nelson Mandela Bay is expected to start as early as March next year. The Zacor business group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coega Development Corporation (CDC). The group plans to export several products into the rest of Africa, using Nelson Mandela Bay as a manufacturing base. Zacor vice-president Hilton Slamet said an SY-plant and noodle factory would be the first phase of the investment into the Coega IDZ, with a succession of other factories to follow. “The SY-plant, named after the original company San Yong, will actually be four factories in one that will manufacture furniture, solar technology as well as the building material and technology to build quality low-cost homes. “The noodle factory will be the first of its kind in Africa,” Slamet said. The additional factories, which would be part of the second phase of the investment, would involve a printing and packaging company and a textile printing firm. He said as an additional phase to the investment, the group also wanted to establish a waste incineration plant. Slamet, who is originally from the Western Cape but spent a decade living and working in South Korea, said the Zacor group had been looking for a place to invest for more than two years. It originally wanted to invest in Saldanha Bay’s IDZ, but finally decided on Coega as a good fit. The 4 000 skilled jobs would be for residents of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape to work in the seven factories the group planned to open, he said. Training would start this year where South Africans could learn the trade of master noodle making as well as building technology, planned for the first phase of the project. Zacor business group president Choi Jong-Nam said coming to South Africa to do business was a dream come true. “Korea was a very poor country 50 years ago, similar to South Africa. We want to help to educate and grow the country by teaching South Africans not how to eat fish, but how to catch it. We want to bring the technology of Korea to Nelson Mandela Bay and bring the fruits to share,” Jong-Nam said. NMB economic development head Anele Qaba welcomed the investment. His department assisted the delegation with their visit to the Bay and helped set up meetings with the CDC and other role players. Qaba said he had been in talks with the Zacor business group’s South African representatives, in particular prominent Eastern Cape businessmen like Elvis Bana, Wayne Brink and Andrew Jordaan, for some time. Jordaan is the brother of soccer boss Danny Jordaan. He and his son, Mark, are also involved in the Zacor group. CDC head of marketing Ayanda Vilakazi confirmed a memorandum of understanding was signed this week with Zacor. “The details of the MOU are confidential at this point, but it is a positive very development,” Vilakazi said (Source: pressdisplay)
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:42:49 +0000
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