Municipalities urged to grow local economies - KZN Premier

In his address during a recent visit by a South Korean delegation at the uMshwathi Municipality, the premier said tons of timber was produced in the municipality area however, the majority of it was exported and manufactured into furniture by other countries and bought back.

“Why should we be exporting this timber when we can manufacture our own furniture for which we already have a ready market?" asked Premier Ndebele.

The South Korean business people visited the uMshwathi Municipality on Wednesday, 23 April, in order to kick-start the process of establishing a furniture manufacturing factory.

Ndebele said that government was one of those ready markets, adding that the province would also be able to create numerous jobs for its people.

He said that millions of learners in the province attending 6,000 schools required desks and office furniture.

“What about the furniture requirements of our hospitals, clinics, municipalities and government departments?

"Even other countries on the African continent purchase most of their furniture from Europe because South Africa doesn't manufacture enough furniture,” he said.

Ndebele called for the capacitating of local timber including furniture and leather industries as well as key local areas within the province of KwaZulu-Natal which have their own natural resources.

The local areas such as uMshwathi with cattle for leather and timber for furniture ought to play a leading role, said the premier.

The relationship between province and South Korea started last year when Ndebele led a provincial delegation on an investment mission to lure investors from Korea to consider investing in KwaZulu-Natal.

The investment mission was arranged in conjunction with Trapeace International Holdings, a company representing South Korean business people.

During interactions with various business people in South Korea, certain companies were interested in considering the uMshwathi Municipality area as an investment destination.

As a follow-up to the investment mission to South Korea, the municipality hosted its Local economic Development Summit in October last year, which was attended by some investors from South Korea.

During a summit, Trapeace International Holdings on behalf of South Korean investors and the municipality signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing both the municipality and the South Korean investors to co-operate with one another in seeking to ensure that investors from South Korea are mobilised to come and invest in the uMshwathi municipality.

The MOU sought to explore investment opportunities in leather as well as furniture manufacturing for the municipality.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews