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Job creation a focus of EC government and Germany’s Lower Saxony partnership
Posted on: Wednesday, 19 April 2006. Article source: Daily Dispatch
Job creation through small enterprises will be the focus of a new phase of German investment in the Eastern Cape, according to minister-president of Germany's Lower Saxony state Christian Wulff.
Wulff and a delegation of 20 business people are on a three-day visit to the province, meeting local business people and politicians with a view to building on 11 years of partnership between Lower Saxony and the Eastern Cape.
Wulff spoke of three phases in the relationship between the two.
The first was promoting investment by large German companies.
He said in the last 10 years about 10 500 jobs were created through investments from German multinationals like Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler, Steinhoff and Continental in the province.
The second stage, he said, was building partnerships between small and medium-sized enterprises in both provinces.
Members of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) met the German business delegation yesterday in this regard.
Wulff said the third stage would be when companies based in the Eastern Cape started investing in Lower-Saxony.
Premier Nosimo Balindlela said the single focus of the international partnership was job-creation.
She said the two governments would co-operate on projects in agriculture, tourism and education.
"There is a good relationship between our agriculture ministers and there are many possibilities for co-operation in this field," said Wulff.
He said barriers in the form of subsidies to European farmers would continue to be broken down, thus opening up new markets for Eastern Cape produce.
"We will have to reduce subsidies to our farmers, and we may have to reduce production as a result. This will create opportunities for Eastern Cape farmers," he said.
Balindlela said the two previous delegations from Lower Saxony had "borne fruit for the poor", and this meant the partnership was more than just "lip service".
Specifically, the previous delegations had helped the province improve its financial systems and centralise the divided administration it had inherited from the apartheid government, she said.
BKCOB chairperson Les Holbrook said his chamber had been working "flat out" to match the German visitors with potential partners in East London and its surrounds.
He hoped the "huge exercise" would lead to valuable relationships between local business and German enterprise.
Holbrook, who was part of the Eastern Cape's delegation to Lower Saxony in 1997, said this was the "highest level political delegation" to have visited East London during the diplomatic partnership.
Lower Saxony, Germany's second largest state, borders on the North Sea and has a population of eight million. Its infrastructure includes Hanover international airport and several North Sea ports.
The delegation will spend today in Mthatha.
Wulff and a delegation of 20 business people are on a three-day visit to the province, meeting local business people and politicians with a view to building on 11 years of partnership between Lower Saxony and the Eastern Cape.
Wulff spoke of three phases in the relationship between the two.
The first was promoting investment by large German companies.
He said in the last 10 years about 10 500 jobs were created through investments from German multinationals like Volkswagen, DaimlerChrysler, Steinhoff and Continental in the province.
The second stage, he said, was building partnerships between small and medium-sized enterprises in both provinces.
Members of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) met the German business delegation yesterday in this regard.
Wulff said the third stage would be when companies based in the Eastern Cape started investing in Lower-Saxony.
Premier Nosimo Balindlela said the single focus of the international partnership was job-creation.
She said the two governments would co-operate on projects in agriculture, tourism and education.
"There is a good relationship between our agriculture ministers and there are many possibilities for co-operation in this field," said Wulff.
He said barriers in the form of subsidies to European farmers would continue to be broken down, thus opening up new markets for Eastern Cape produce.
"We will have to reduce subsidies to our farmers, and we may have to reduce production as a result. This will create opportunities for Eastern Cape farmers," he said.
Balindlela said the two previous delegations from Lower Saxony had "borne fruit for the poor", and this meant the partnership was more than just "lip service".
Specifically, the previous delegations had helped the province improve its financial systems and centralise the divided administration it had inherited from the apartheid government, she said.
BKCOB chairperson Les Holbrook said his chamber had been working "flat out" to match the German visitors with potential partners in East London and its surrounds.
He hoped the "huge exercise" would lead to valuable relationships between local business and German enterprise.
Holbrook, who was part of the Eastern Cape's delegation to Lower Saxony in 1997, said this was the "highest level political delegation" to have visited East London during the diplomatic partnership.
Lower Saxony, Germany's second largest state, borders on the North Sea and has a population of eight million. Its infrastructure includes Hanover international airport and several North Sea ports.
The delegation will spend today in Mthatha.
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