Pretoria – The City of Ekurhuleni has committed to creating conducive conditions for investors to do business in the area.
“All our structures will assume a central role in making the city even more investor friendly,” Mayor of the Ekurhuleni Municipality Mondli Gungubele said.
The Mayor was speaking at the Aerotropolis Investment Conference in Emperors Palace on Tuesday.
The city unveiled its Aerotropolis Master Plan to the local and international business community.
The Aerotropolis programme is the city’s unique economic growth path aimed at repositioning the regional economy within the Gauteng City Region, which is envisaged to create over half a million new formal jobs over time.
The concept has been successful in airport cities in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America.
“The 30-year Aerotropolis Master Plan is aimed at driving sustainable socio-economic development and an economic infrastructure development programme in partnership with other spheres of government, state owned companies, private business and social partners within the Gauteng City Region (GCR) and South Africa,” Mayor Gungubele said.
He said the city’s main objective is to grow the economy, create jobs and improve the general quality of life in the country.
“This plan identifies a massive potential that could be leveraged by the GCR to accelerate upstream and downstream economic activities that rely on airport connectivity,” Mayor Gungubele said.
Each project identified has a significant role to play in driving the reindustrialization programme of the region while activating new industrial opportunities in sunrise industries, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing.
He welcomed the increased air linkages between OR Tambo International Airport to regional, continental and global destinations.
“This is critical in fostering inward investment growth, trade growth and tourism to boost the economic vibrancy of Ekurhuleni,” Mayor Gungubele said. – SAnews.gov.za
