Minister Alan Winde Welcomes Mining Indaba Delegates

The Investing in African Mining Indaba kicks off at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on 3 February 2014, bringing close to 8 000 delegates to the Western Cape.

Alan Winde, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, extended a warm welcome to the Indaba delegates.

“The Mining Indaba draws the world’s most influential leaders in this sector to Cape Town for Africa’s largest mining event. Figures show that between 2006 and 2013, the conference generated R485 million for the local economy and created close to 4 000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Minister Winde.

“It also provides a boost for the local tourism sector. According to Mining Indaba figures, last year’s delegates spent 20 000 room nights at 40 local hotels.”

Minister Winde said the event illustrated the significance of the conferencing industry for our economy.

“In the last financial year, Wesgro, the Western Cape’s trade, investment and tourism destination promotion agency, secured 19 conference bids worth R347 million, which drew 27 580 delegates to our province. In this year we aim to attract 34 000 conference delegates and bids valued at R360 million. Business tourism is very lucrative as business travellers have a higher spend than leisure tourists, which in turn creates more jobs.

Over the past nine years of its existence, the CTICC has contributed nearly R20 billion to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2016 it is projected that the CTICC will contribute R705 million to the national GDP, increasing to R1.98 billion by 2018.

“The CTICC is a major economic catalyst and the planned expansion of the venue will double its capacity for meetings and exhibitions. This will increase business travel to the province and create more employment opportunities. By 2020, it’s expected that the CTICC will sustain close to 3 000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Minister Winde.