According to South Africa’s Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry, and Competition, Fikile Majola, the two countries are dedicated to strengthening their economic connections.
Manufacturing of value-added products, according to Majola, is one of the main areas of concentration in such initiatives.
On Friday, the Belgian King Phillippe visited the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone (ORTSEZ) in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, where the Deputy Minister was speaking.
Belgium’s Pluczenik Diamonds is located in the ORT Tambo SEZ’s Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct (JMP), where it has partnered with a young South African businessman named Kealeboga Pule of Nungu Diamonds to build a factory for polishing diamonds here.
Pluczenik was founded in South Africa in 1948, but a few decades later, its headquarters were relocated to Belgium.
The new agreement made it easier for the company to relocate back to South Africa. In Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho, it also has facilities for cutting and polishing diamonds.
Majola stated that the government is committed to luring investment from both domestic and international markets through the SEZ program, among other things, by developing an enabling platform that encourages investment in its identified high value low mass industries, with beneficiation being one of the areas of focus.
“We want to unlock and facilitate the development of appropriate infrastructure required by investors who sign up to operationalise their investments, thereby enhancing the manufacturing and export of products through OR Tambo International Airport.
“This specific partnership continues to enable South Africa to meet its beneficiation objectives and supports communities, particularly as diamonds have a long history and heritage in the country,” Majola said. SAnews.gov.za