Boat Building Sector Awards evening

Statement by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos

On Thursday, 6 June 2019, I was honoured to attend the South African Boat Builders Export Council’s (SABBEX) annual Industry Awards and dinner. It gave me great pleasure to reiterate that the City is currently exploring the best possible ways to support the industry and how best to address challenges such as skills development and access to land.

We are keen to support sectors such as boat building to facilitate accelerated economic growth, job creation and economic inclusion through skills development.

According to SABBEX, the boat building industry is worth R1,4 billion annually while its estimated ocean sports can bring in R1,2 billion per year.

In February this year, the Executive Mayor Dan Plato and I had the opportunity to visit two boat building yards; Voyage Yachts and Two Oceans Marine Manufacturing in Paarden Island, to experience first-hand what makes the local multi-billion rand building industry tick.

Since 2014, this industry secured investments worth R30 billion and created over 7 000 direct jobs in the oceans economy. The industry exports 90% of the products manufactured and attracts a positive trade balance of around US$73 million, or over R1 billion, annually.

My team from the Enterprise and Investment Department has worked closely with SABBEX and the sector this year on priorities to help promote and market the industry in South Africa and internationally, at events such as the Miami International Boat Show.

They will also engage with the sector on various aspects such as the challenges they face, join them to celebrate their success stories, and help to cut red tape to enable the ease of doing business.

The City has also invested in research to get a better understanding of future opportunities and the industry. To show our commitment, Invest Cape Town, the City’s business arm ran a digital investor campaign, together with Wesgro, last month.

An audience of 1,9 million was reached in France, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United States. Through this initiative, thousands of possible clients and future investors got to learn about Cape Town’s boat building sector.

Preliminary findings of the recent research conducted that looked into the economic contribution of the ocean sports economy Cape Town, showed that this is a significant sector demonstrating huge growth potential and job creation capabilities. The full findings will be presented later this month.

As a City, we want to create an enabling environment for businesses to grow in this sector, by supporting skills training to allow companies to become more innovative and employ more people.

We will continue to work with industry partners like SABBEX to promote investment in the sector and grow the Cape Town Boat Show.

Cape Town is a world leader in boat building and a hub for big ideas and innovation. This City is committed to working with sectors that can stimulate job creation.

My priority is to ensure that we continue to be the go-to city on the African continent and globally for business, trade, and sectors such as boat building that will contribute to the local economy and make a dent in the unemployment rate.

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City of Cape Town, Media Office