FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT in the Eastern Cape has been given a major boost through a more than R150 million investment in the province’s Shamwari Holdings by a Uruguayan pharmaceutical company. Port Elizabeth businessman and developer of the Eastern Cape’s first “big five” game reserve, Adrian Gardiner announced that he had sold a stake in his Shamwari group to Uruguayan pharmaceutical company owner Gaston Savoi for more than R150-million. The deal makes Savoi a major shareholder in Shamwari Holdings, which includes the popular internationally renowned Shamwari game reserve near Port Elizabeth, as well as a number of other award-winning boutique hotels in the Western Cape, Gauteng and along the Garden Route. The investments include an international hotel university at Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. Savoi says Shamwari Holdings would be extended internationally to San Paolo in Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina and to Uruguay to bring South Africa to the attention of the people of South America. "The good wines of the Cape will be marketed in Uruguay, while from our side we want to bring as many visitors to South Africa as possible," he said. They would expand the travel business section to include Europe and the UK to make this possible. "I have a lot of trust in South Africa and we will be working hard to make things run smoothly. "We are confident that we will be able to pull it off and bring lots more investments to South Africa," he said. Savoi said other ventures they would be looking at was to arrange with South American universities to send students to the Shamwari Holdings University at Port Alfred. "I am very excited, proud and confident that we have done the right thing.” Gardiner says the group, which will remain based in the Eastern Cape, is looking at expansion. "It has been our intention for some time to expand our Mantis brand in the international market." Gardiner said there were deals on the table to purchase boutique hotels in London and Barbados. Savoi added that the purchase of a boutique hotel in Uruguay was also on the cards. The group could also expand its operations. One of the projects that will be looked at will be the establishment of a multimillion-rand factory to produce raw pharmaceutical products in the Eastern Cape. This would be an additional boost to the province’s growing pharmaceutical industry.