Brazil

In the week prior to the 15th annual BRICS summit due to take place in South Africa from 22 – 24 August 2023 under the watchful eye of chairperson President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) played host to a delegation of business leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China. A high-level group of business leaders from the BRICS nations are in South Africa to explore investment opportunities across a wide range of economic sectors, including the automotive manufacturing sector. The group visited the TASEZ plant in Silverton on Monday, 14 August 2023 and was warmly welcomed by a large TASEZ team, headed up by board chair Lionel October and CEO Dr Bheka Zulu, eager to talk business opportunities and investment incentives. “We want to showcase our special economic zone to big investors who want to take up occupancy in our hub,” October said. Tshwane is uniquely placed as an automotive hub, with Ford based in the TASEZ plant and BMW and Nissan in the nearby industrial area. October sees the city becoming the gateway to Africa for the automotive sector. With Phase 1 of the TASEZ development complete and fully occupied by anchor tenant Ford and nine manufacturers producing components required for the Ford Ranger, the TASEZ team are now looking to implementing the development plans for Phase 2 and 3. “We are looking for two or three other global companies to take up the incentives available in the zone, along with the infrastructure and support TASEZ supplies,” October said. “We are excited to be hosting businesses from some of the largest countries in the world,” Dr Zulu said. “This is an important milestone for us, to engage with world business leaders and share with them our plans.” The BRICS group incorporates more than 40% of the global population and over 25% of the world’s economy. With this in mind, it is critical for South Africa’s economic and social growth and development to encourage foreign direct investment into the various sectors. “We do not see our SEZ in isolation, there are numerous linkages that will expand the reach of what happens in our hub,” Dr Zulu noted.