Miami business leaders show interest to invest in Cape Town

Business leaders from Miami-Dade County and Broward County in Florida were keenly interested this week to hear about investment opportunities in Cape Town.

A delegation from the City of Cape Town’s Enterprise and Investment Department travelled to the United States of America to promote the city’s boat builders exhibiting at the Miami International Boat Show.

South Africa and Cape Town, in particular, is the second largest producer of recreational catamarans in the world. The city’s boat builders export 90% of the product they produce and attracts a positive trade balance of around US$73m annually.

On Friday, 15 February, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council hosted a special business roundtable meeting focusing about business opportunities in Cape Town.

The City of Cape Town and Miami-Dade County are sister cities.

Faith Kolala,  the City’s head of sectors, investment & trade, talked about investing in Cape Town’s catalytic sectors; while Leán Muller, head of investment promotion, spoke about building an African business hub that supports big ideas and innovation; and  GreenCape’s Jarrod Lyons shared information about the green economy and investing in Atlantis SEZ.

Businesses ranging from energy efficiency, clothing and textiles, financial services, legal advisory firms, manufacturing, project finance, film and media, arts and culture, travel and tourism attended the roundtable.

Florida based companies, looking for investment and business opportunities, included businesses that want to import products from South Africa to the U.S. while others were interested in possibilities to set up companies in Cape Town.

Miami-Dade County and Broward County are home to international trading hubs like Miami and the well-known city of Fort Lauderdale.

Business leaders asked about how secure their investments would be, the general business environment and the various incentives available for investors.

The meeting concluded with Desmond Alufohai, senior international trade coordinator for Miami-Dade County, announcing to business leaders that there be a follow-up mission to Cape Town in March this year.

The Cape Town delegation also met with Alyce Robertson,  the executive director for Miami Downtown Development Agency. She is responsible for the economic development of  Miami’s city centre.

Robertson shared knowledge about how the agency recruits investments into Miami and how they work collaboratively with other stakeholders to develop the various industries in Miami.

Related articles:

Cape Town releases vacant land for production of medical cannabis South Africa’s biggest composite catamaran is launched Tech giant Naspers invests R30 million in Cape Town startup Cape Town & the Western Cape ready to boost investment at inaugural Investment Summit City signs loan with German bank for wastewater treatment plant upgrades

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