CONFIRMATION OF the seriousness of French aluminium giant Pechiney’s intention to invest in a two billion dollar aluminium smelter at Coega outside Port Elizabeth comes from Coega Development Corporation ceo Pepi Silinga. He says in his mid-year review that negotiations with the aluminium giant have reached the “final straight”. In a mid-year review of the Coega Project, Silinga says that negotiations with the French aluminium producer are on schedule and the CDC expects to sign a contract before the end of 2003. "The respective negotiating teams are drilling down into the levels of detail required to ensure that the interests of all parties are met, so that the best deal is secured for the IDZ, for the region, as well as for South Africa as a whole. "There is no doubt that our strategy of looking at a basket of investment opportunities rather than focusing on a single investor, has been the right one in attracting industries to the IDZ. The CDC is engaged in a number of initiatives to market Coega as the investment destination of choice within South Africa. This includes meeting with potential investors in the automotive and textile industries in Europe and elsewhere." But, Silinga says, the CDC has also put in place a multi-disciplinary team to ensure that Pechiney's requirements for world-class infrastructure and services are met. "Over the past three years we have been able to bring together a highly professional team with vast experience of mega-projects in South Africa and Internationally. Negotiating the Pechiney investment is a hugely challenging exercise but we are confident that the team, together with the systems we have put in place, will be up to the challenge," he says. Silinga says that even though local businesses are feeling "the Coega effect", the project will result in even bigger changes to the economy of the Nelson Mandela Bay area, with opportunities stretching far beyond the construction industry. "Economists talk about direct, indirect and induced effects of development, and already, even at this early stage in the project rollout, one can see that happening in this region in: A construction industry which is busier than at any time in living memory; Rising house prices; High occupancy levels in hotels and bed and breakfasts; The retail sector which reports stronger than ever sales. "Nelson Mandela Bay has never seen investment on this scale. The Council for Industrial and Scientific Research (CSIR) predicts that the Pechiney aluminium plant will generate an increased income of about R230-million a year in the Nelson Mandela Bay area. As a result of this investment and downstream economic activity, between 36 541 and 57 553 direct, indirect and induced jobs will be affected, either in the form of existing jobs that are sustained or as new jobs that have been created. Once it is operating, the Pechiney investment will create 9 814 indirect jobs nationally. Of these jobs, at least 36 per cent will be created in the Nelson Mandela Metro and the remainder elsewhere in South Africa - mostly in the electricity sector. The aluminium smelter opens a new world of opportunities for downstream industries. We have already been approached by companies which want to use the aluminium to make a wide range of products. But, the good news is that Coega is much bigger than Pechiney. There is sufficient space in the zone for many more plants the size of the planned aluminium smelter. They will range from automotive manufacturers to producers of electronics and garment companies. Through meticulous planning, the CDC has opened the doors to all these types of investment in the Coega IDZ. By so doing, we have broken the shackles which restrained business development in the region for so long. The CDC is also helping to empower and train the people of the metro for success. Our procurement policies are succeeding in transferring management and business skills to entrepreneurs, while providing free training for the artisans and workers who are going to be in such great demand for many years to come. Local businesses which do not grab the opportunities with both hands will have only themselves to blame when they are side-lined. Coega is happening, with or without them," says Silinga.