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Cape Town - The Western Cape attracted foreign investment worth R4.4bn in 2012.
Alan Winde, provincial minister of finance, economic development and tourism, said there were 26 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the province in last year.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released its World Investment Report on Wednesday, finding that global FDI was declining.
In South Africa, FDI flows dropped from R60bn in 2011 to R46bn in 2012.
The UN report cites “economic fragility” and “policy uncertainty” in the world’s biggest economies as some of the reasons for the decline in FDI.
Winde said despite the international trend, the Western Cape continued to attract a steady stream of foreign investment.
“The numbers show investor confidence for the Western Cape is positive. Although the value of the investments decreased, the number of projects increased from 22 in 2011 to 26 in 2012,” he said.
“This financial year is already off to a good start, an international firm in the renewable energy industry has invested R10m.”
Between 2009 and 2012 FDI projects resulted in 6 900 jobs having been created in the province.
In addition, FDI assisted in the developing of key growth areas such as ICT and innovation.
Another example is the business process outsourcing company Merchants, part of the Dimension Data group, which has opened its new customer care centre in Cape Town.
The centre will employ 680 people by the end of 2013 and will service the UK’s second largest retailer, Asda.
The new centre will accommodate for the growth of the Asda account and is expected to generate 250 new jobs by December 2013.
“The BPO industry provides a great career path with job opportunities at various levels, especially for the youth of our province,” said premier Helen Zille at the opening of the centre.
“Through this and other investments, Cape Town has firmly established itself as an international BPO destination of choice.”
“Asda is a world class business with over 18 million customers. The fact that they have chosen Cape Town to service their customers in the UK speaks volumes about the quality of our people and I am confident that the centre will continue to go from strength to strength,” said Gareth Pritchard, CEO of Business Process enabling South Africa (BPeSA) Western Cape.
- Fin24
Alan Winde, provincial minister of finance, economic development and tourism, said there were 26 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the province in last year.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released its World Investment Report on Wednesday, finding that global FDI was declining.
In South Africa, FDI flows dropped from R60bn in 2011 to R46bn in 2012.
The UN report cites “economic fragility” and “policy uncertainty” in the world’s biggest economies as some of the reasons for the decline in FDI.
Winde said despite the international trend, the Western Cape continued to attract a steady stream of foreign investment.
“The numbers show investor confidence for the Western Cape is positive. Although the value of the investments decreased, the number of projects increased from 22 in 2011 to 26 in 2012,” he said.
“This financial year is already off to a good start, an international firm in the renewable energy industry has invested R10m.”
Between 2009 and 2012 FDI projects resulted in 6 900 jobs having been created in the province.
In addition, FDI assisted in the developing of key growth areas such as ICT and innovation.
Another example is the business process outsourcing company Merchants, part of the Dimension Data group, which has opened its new customer care centre in Cape Town.
The centre will employ 680 people by the end of 2013 and will service the UK’s second largest retailer, Asda.
The new centre will accommodate for the growth of the Asda account and is expected to generate 250 new jobs by December 2013.
“The BPO industry provides a great career path with job opportunities at various levels, especially for the youth of our province,” said premier Helen Zille at the opening of the centre.
“Through this and other investments, Cape Town has firmly established itself as an international BPO destination of choice.”
“Asda is a world class business with over 18 million customers. The fact that they have chosen Cape Town to service their customers in the UK speaks volumes about the quality of our people and I am confident that the centre will continue to go from strength to strength,” said Gareth Pritchard, CEO of Business Process enabling South Africa (BPeSA) Western Cape.
- Fin24
