Metro opens door of investment through Aerotropolis conference

This is according to Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro, who said Ekurhuleni will unveil the Aerotropolis Master Plan to the local and international business community at the Aerotropolis Industrial Cluster Development and Investment Conference to take place at Emperors Palace on November 17 and 18.

“The conference will be attended by various local and international dignitaries and business leaders with the primary purpose to discuss investment opportunities and realise the full potential of the City of Ekurhuleni,” said Gadebe.

“The ultimate objective for the city is to attract strategic investments in key economic sectors including Aviation and Aerospace, Advanced Manufacturing, Logistics and Rail, to name a few.

“As part of the Netherlands Prime Minister’s official visit to South Africa, an 80-member business delegation from his country will also attend the conference to enable business-to-business networking with local businesses.

“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.”

According to Ekurhuleni Mayor Mondli Gungubele,  the implementation of the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis programme intends to balance the distribution of economic activity between the nine affluent areas, the 17 townships of Ekurhuleni and the broader Gauteng City region.

“This will be achieved through a systematic social, spatial and economic transformation programme that will enable the geographic spread, and drive global competitiveness.

“This way, the people will be the primary beneficiaries of enhanced economic opportunities, thus improving the quality of life from wherever they are without moving closer to the airport.

“After 18 months of putting the master plan together, I cannot wait to traverse the world and expose investors to our unique selling points as a city.”

The mayor said now that the master plan is in place to effect the implementation of the Aerotropolis, investors will hear how the programme will link existing national, provincial and municipal imperatives with the view to unlock the economic development potential of the Gauteng City Region.

Expected to be implemented over a period of up to 30 years, the City’s ambitious economic engine has the backing of the National and Gauteng Provincial government, as well as strategic partnerships with Airports Company South Africa, Denel, CSIR among others.

Gadebe said the Aerotropolis concept has been very successful in airport cities of Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America, hence the City of Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis programme is also poised to offer unique opportunities to apply global lessons learned at these airports to develop a truly African mega hub Aerotropolis airport city in favour of radical economic development.