Western Cape Government and Hisense Resume Investment Talks

The Western Cape Government has started a second round of talks with Hisense, a leading Chinese electronics manufacturer, on making further foreign direct investments into the province.

On Thursday, 4 July 2013, the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde met with Vice President of Hisense Group and General Manager of Hisense International, Dr Lan Lin, at the Hisense head offices in Qingdao, China.

Earlier this month, Hisense opened a R350 million manufacturing plant in Atlantis. The factory is set to create more than 1000  jobs for residents of the area. The Western Cape plant is one of only three Hisense manufacturing plants based outside of China.

"Yesterday, Hisense took us on a tour of three of their production plants. This morning I met with the General Manager of Hisense International, Dr Lin, and we had a discussion on a second phase investment into the Western Cape which could possibly commence as early as next year," said Minister Winde.

Minister Winde added that Hisense was also considering the establishment of a Research and Development (R&D) centre in the Western Cape.

"It is envisaged that this R&D initiative will give our local software developers the opportunity to build applications for the hardware being manufactured at the Hisense factories. It is perfectly linked with our plan to focus on IT and technology. It also affords them greater proximity and access to the African market."

Last night Minster Winde met with the Deputy Mayor of Qingdao, Liu Mingjun, who explained the significance of Hisense's investment in Atlantis.

"The Deputy Mayor told us that it had triggered a lot of interest among Chinese companies, who are watching proceedings closely, in investing in the Western Cape. The Hisense deal has been a pioneer for further opportunities for non-resource investments into the Western Cape, an area of particular interest for me," said Minister Winde.

Minster Winde and Gerrit van Rensburg, Minister of Agriculture, are conducting a trade and investment mission to China to promote increased economic opportunities between the two regions.

In 2012 the Western Cape exported goods to China worth R1.4 billion. This was a 7.7% increase from 2011. Over the past decade China has invested R236 million into Foreign Direct Investment projects in the Western Cape.