Minister Alan Winde Welcomes International Investors to Cape Town | Western Cape Government

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Minister Alan Winde Welcomes International Investors to Cape Town

18 November 2013

Alan Winde, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, issued a warm welcome to 25 international investors and ten analysts from across the world.

"It gives me great pleasure to welcome the delegates to our province. While they have a packed programme, I am happy they will also be travelling to some of the Western Cape’s tourism landmarks."

The summit starts on Wednesday, 20 November 2013 and ends on Saturday, 22 November 2013.

"The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is driving a major boost in job creation for residents of the province, especially for our youth which is the demographic with the highest rate of unemployment. Currently there are just over 40 000 people employed in the industry, which is worth an estimated R8 billion to our economy. By next year the job numbers are expected to grow to 52 245. By 2016, it’s expected the sector will employ 65 303 people,” said Minister Winde.

Minister Winde said the Western Cape Government would offer support to the sector to achieve a target of R300 million investment.

"There are several exciting developments in the local BPO industry. As a service location we are in the right time zone, speak the right language and have an eager workforce. In recognition of our growing attractiveness as a global call centre hub, South Africa recently scooped several international industry awards. The traction we are gaining in this sector and the industry’s achievements will further position the Western Cape and South Africa as a leading call centre destination. This summit is a great opportunity to showcase this region's strengths and also outline our plans to expand our offering into new BPO sectors, such as back-office operations," said Minister Winde.

Gareth Pritchard, the CEO of Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPeSA), said there was a spike in interest in investing in South Africa following last year’s inaugural summit.

"We are expecting a great turnout from the world's biggest customer service operators. Last year's summit was a huge success and was attended by global organisations such as Vodafone, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Alexander Mann, Capgemini, Infosys, Deutsche Telekom, Nespresso and Wespac. After the summit there was a massive increase in interest around the South African offering. We expect about two to three large scale investments to hit our shores over the next 18 months," said Pritchard.

Media Enquiries: 

Bronwynne Jooste
Spokesperson for Minister Alan Winde
Tel: 021 483 3550
Cell: 082 454 4365
E-mail: bronwynne.jooste@westerncape.gov.za