The Point Waterfront Development, for example, fits very well into the category of a catalytic project. Some projections put the potential investment value at R40-billion and the number of permanent jobs to be created at 6 750. It is an ambitious plan that is already linking the city's beach promenade and the harbour.
The Point Waterfront Development offers a property use mix of office space, retail shops, residential dwellings and leisure options. The 55 ha site has already seen significant investment. A new cruise line terminal in the harbour, backing on to the Point will dovetail well with the new atmosphere of the precinct.
Other major projects, amongst others, include the:
-
GO!Durban Transport Oriented Development, which has already received major road upgrades and will be an even greater enabler of trade
-
Centrum Government Precinct which would formalise the relationship between buildings such as the International Convention Centre (and extensions) and a related hotel, the library, council chambers and the redevelopment of Gugu Dlamini Park
-
Cornubia integrated human settlement development north of Durban, on 1 300 ha, a partnership between Tongaat Hulett Development, the human settlement departments at national and provincial level and eThekwini municipality
-
Dube TradePort, the multi-modal facility at King Shaka International Airport
Cluster Initiatives
Durban has a very diverse economic landscape, within which there are some large-scale enterprises. Cooperation between the public and private sectors is formalised by the large number of cluster initiatives which aim to draw to together experience and expertise from commerce and industry, labour organisations, government and academia.
Under manufacturing, the following clusters or programmes are active:
-
KZN Clothing and Textile Cluster (KZN CTC)
-
Durban Automotive Cluster (DAC)
-
Durban Chemical Cluster (DCC)
-
eThekwini Maritime Cluster (EMC)
-
KZN Furniture Incubator
-
Agro-processing development programmes
Research aims to find out how best to grow particular economic sectors, and in-depth discussions are held about how to develop and grow value chains. The wealth of KwaZulu-Natal is mostly consumed or exported in its raw state - much more could be done to add value through processing.
The priority sectors are:
-
Automotive and allied industries
-
Logistics and logistics management
-
ICT and BPS (Information & Comm's Tech, plus business process services)
-
Agri-processing
-
Life sciences (incl. Pharmaceuticals, medical device manufacturing, plus health facilities)
-
Tourism asset development
Some of these initiatives play to the existing strengths of the regional economy, some seek to exploit newer avenues as in the emphasis on the environment and a growing interest in the oceans' economy. A variety of projects link tourism, renewable energy generation, recycling and job creation.
There are various other broader programmes which have their own goals, but there will be positive spin-offs for the targeted sectors. These schemes include the drive to increase local content, boosting metal fabrication across sectors, the promotion of black industrialists, promoting exports and the over-arching eThekwini Industrial Development Policy Action Plan.
Companies operating in these key sectors are invited to contact Invest Durban and benefit from these initiatives!
