Economic growth roundtable with industry bodies to explore more trade and jobs

This week, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, hosted a strategy session with the municipality’s special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to facilitate business and employment opportunities for Capetonians. Also present were the various country representative consular-generals based in Cape Town. Read more below:

The City’s Enterprise and Investment Department funds these SPVs to deliver sector programmes and projects that are aligned with the City’s economic priorities.

‘It is through such partnerships with the City that 125 000 – or 74% – of the 169 000 new jobs created in South Africa between October and December last year were made in Cape Town. From call centres to craft and design, technology and green energy, boat building and tourism, to clothing manufacturing and property development, we work closely with these business partners to train people and secure investments from domestic and global corporations.

‘In the past year, through City-funded projects, our industry bodies directly created employment for thousands of Capetonians and secured billions of rands in investments,’ said Alderman James Vos.

The roundtable was held at the new Woodstock campus of UVU Africa (formerly the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative), the City’s technology industry partner. The organisations presented updates on their programmes for the year ahead.

‘This meant that not only did the diplomats get to see what kind of investment opportunities they could highlight with businesses from their countries, but also that the other SPVs could see how they could work together and use their different skillsets to accelerate and innovate.

‘I also shared that the City’s special Investment Facilitation Branch within the Economic Growth Directorate is dedicated to helping businesses and investors to land and expand their operations in Cape Town. In other words, we have the necessary mechanisms to foster growth. These initiatives show that we are continuously working to make Cape Town the easiest and best place to do business that will, in turn, help more Capetonians access jobs and be more active role-players in the economy,’ said Alderman Vos.