Free State Investment Opportunities

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Free State Investment Opportunities Gcina
Mazibuko CEO FIPA
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Contents

• FIPA Goals
• Vision and Mission
• Strategic Objectives
• FIPA Service Offerings
• Reasons to Invest in the Free State Province
• Provincial Key Sectors
• Free State at the Glance
• Sectoral Based Investment Opportunities

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FIPA Goals

• To contribute to the economic growth of the Free
  State Province
• To build a sustainable organization by striving
  towards business excellence

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Vision and Mission
Vision To be a key contributor in making the
Free State a successful commercial hub of South
Africa Mission To promote and facilitate
investment and export opportunities within the
Free State Province
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Strategic Objectives

• Facilitate and increase FDI and LDI investments
  in the Free State Province
• Increase and manage awareness of opportunities in
  the Free State (in identified key sectors)
• Increase the number of investment and export
  projects within the Free State Province (FSP)
• Collaborate with government agencies and the
  private sector to identify investment and export
  opportunities for the FSP

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Strategic Objectives (contd)

• Package and promote investment and trade
  opportunities within provincial selected
  sectors.
• Advocate for the creation of a conducive
  investment environment in the FSP for investors
  and traders.
• Ensure financial compliance with investment and
  regulatory requirements
• Develop a knowledge infrastructure for
  information dissemination
• Build and grow an expertise in facilitating trade
  and investment in the FSP

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FIPA Service Offerings

• Packaging of Investment Opportunities/Projects
• Investment Promotion and Facilitation
• Export Development and Promotion
• Policy Advocacy
• Marketing and Communication
• Information Dissemination

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Reasons to Invest in the Free State Province

• Centrally located with easy access to markets
  within South Africa and SADC
• Availability of a large labour pool
• Low land and building costs
• Excellent transport infrastructure
• Incentives Schemes
• Abundance of Resources (Minerals, Water, etc)
• Temperate Climate Conducive for Agro-processing

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Provincial Key Sectors

• Manufacturing
• Agriculture
• Mining
• Tourism
• Logistics and transport
• Chemical
• BPO/Call Centre and ICT

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Free State at the Glance
Premier Ms. Beatrice Marshoff Capital
Mangaung (Bloemfontein) Main towns Welkom,
Odendaalsrus, Kroonstad, Bothaville, Parys,
Sasolburg, Harrismith, Bethlehem,
Phuthaditjhaba, Clarens, Ficksburg,
Petrusburg and Trompsburg Population 2.9
million (2006) GGP R 44,1 billion GGP
Growth 4.3 GDP per capita R 31 740
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Investment Opportunities BPO

• BPO/Call Centre sector has been identified by
  South African government as one of the top three
  priority sectors to stimulate growth within its
  Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA).
• This sector is identified for its potential to
  attract investment and create employment
  opportunities in the economy.
• Prevalent function is customer services

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Investment Opportunities BPO

• MARKET
• Banks
• Insurance
• Cellphone Industry
• Medical Aid
• Transcription (Medical, Legal, etc)
• Government Services (Transport, Health, Social
  Services, Home Affairs, etc)
• Municipality Services (Sewage, Traffic, Water,
  etc)

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Investment Opportunities BPO

• Why Free State?
• Rental costs lower than those of Johannesburg and
  Cape Town.
• Accessibility from Johannesburg.
• Appropriate supporting infrastructure on a par
  with both Johannesburg and Cape Town in
  sophistication and reliability.
• Lower industry density which provides for greater
  accessibility to certain skill sets.
• Labour costs which are lower than those in Cape
  Town and Johannesburg.
• English, Sotho, Tswana and Afrikaans language
  skills are readily available.
• Neutral English accents.

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Investment Opportunities BPO

• Targeted Countries
• North America (time zone - different)
• USA
• Canada
• Europe (time zone - same)
• Central Europe
• Asia (market saturation)
• India
• Philliphine

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Investment Opportunities BPO

• Potential Sites
• Industrial Parks in Free State (Qwaqwa,
  Botshabelo, etc)
• FDC
• Unused Government Buildings
• Local Municipality
• Provincial Government
• National Government
• Unused Business Buildings
• Good Infrastructure
• Vacant Land
• Private
• Government (Municipality/Provincial)

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Investment Opportunities Logistics

• Harrismith Logistic Hub (HLH)
• Flagship Project
• Part of ASGISA programme
• Location Harrismith (between JHB and DBN)
• Connect to N3 and N5 Highways
• Railway line connection
• Airport is 8km from the site

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Investment Opportunities Logistics

• The hub development zone will subdivided into the
  following key zones
• Hub administration zone
• Container handling zone
• Agricultural produce zone
• Hazardous chemicals zone
• Motor vehicle zone
• Truck stop zone
• Multi-purpose zone
• Convenience services zone

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Investment Opportunities Logistics
Vision To be a key contributor in making the
Free State a successful commercial hub of South
Africa Mission To promote and facilitate
investment and export opportunities within the
Free State Province
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Investment Opportunities Logistics
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Investment Opportunities N8 Corridor Development

• Flagship Project
• Connect to Lesotho and Eastern Free State
• Along N8 Highway
• Bloemfontein Airport is along the corridor
• Spearheaded by both Mangaung Municipality Free
  State Province

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Investment Opportunities N8 Corridor Development

• Bloemfontein CBD (retail, office park
  development)
• The golf course and racecourse node (leisure,
  recreation and tourism opportunities).
• A 5 star graded Hotel an International
  Conference Centre opportunity
• The Transwerke area (potential for transport
  logistics, freight centre warehousing).
• The Bloemfontein Airport (transport, tourism and
  light industry potential), Bloemdustria
  (agro-industry opportunity).

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Investment Opportunities N8 Corridor Development

• The Rustfontein Dam (eco-tourism opportunity).
• The Botshabelo industrial area (industrial and
  warehousing potential).
• Botshabelo CBD (retail and trade opportunities).
• Thaba Nchu CBD (tourism, retail and trade
  opportunities)

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Investment Opportunities Tourism

• Free State has big dams such as Sterkfontein,
  Gariep ,etc with potential to be developed to
  tourism products to attract both local and
  international tourists.
• The Province is attracting investors to invest in
  the revamp/upgrade, development and management of
  its Resorts.
• The Free State Provincial Resorts are
• Willem Pretorius Resort
• Sterkfontein Dam Resort
• Tussen-Die-Reviere Resort
• Phillip Saunders Resort
• Soetdoring Nature Resort
• Sandveld Nature Resort
• Gariep Dam Nature Resort

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THANK YOU