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New vehicle plant will set investment wheels rolling THE metro’s business and political leaders yesterday applauded Volkswagen’s plan to build a multi-million-rand truck and bus assembly plant in Port Elizabeth. The plans were revealed by a spokesman for Volkswagen in Germany, but the local company has said it will only release details of the venture – including the size of the capital investment and the number of jobs it will create – on Monday. Mayor Nceba Faku said the decision would advance the metro’s economic development. He was pleased by VWSA’s commitment to Port Elizabeth. “It’s their third or fourth major investment in the city in the last couple of years. “Port Elizabeth is a good place for investment. We are beginning to make our mark globally in the automotive industry because of our stable political climate.” he said. Councillor and chairman of the metro’s standing committee on economic development, tourism and agriculture, Mike Kwenaite, said the new plant would be one of “the missing puzzle” parts in the metro’s 2020 economic and development vision. “Later this year we will host an international investment conference. Coega had one last year. We are also revising our incentive scheme to attract more investors,” Kwenaite said. Economist and executive director of Response Group Trendline, Dr Neal Bruton, said the decision underlined investor confidence in PE and confirmed its status as a major automotive centre. Dave Coffey, MD of windscreen manufacturer Shatterpruffe, said: “This will have a positive impact on my business and on the whole industry in Port Elizabeth.” The ANC’s leader in the metro, Stone Sizani, said he hoped the plant would provide new jobs and create space for small businesses, particularly those owned by the previously disadvantaged. However, he criticised financial institutions for making it difficult for the previously disadvantaged to access funds in order to partner bigger investors. Education institutions also had a responsibility to prepare the youth so that when opportunities such as these arose, they could seize them. Alfred Da Costa of the PE Regional Chamber of Commerce said: “Investors are always cynical. They always wait for others to break the ground.” VW’s plans could be a magnet for new investment, he said.
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