Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says he is encouraged by the findings of a comprehensive study by multilateral public development institution the World Bank on South Africa’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programme.

Tau says the study has found that the country has the infrastructure, legal framework and institutional capacity to build a leading SEZ programme.

Further, the study also draws on surveys from all 12 SEZs nationwide, interviews with provincial government representatives and SEZ businesses, administrative data from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), South African Revenue Service (SARS), National Treasury and international case studies from India, China, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

“As government, we are encouraged by the outcomes of this study. It has confirmed the impressive progress that we have achieved in the roll-out of the programme, as well as the hugely positive impact it has made on the economy of the country in general, and the provinces where they are located, in particular.

“The fact that revenue of R14.8-billion has been generated by the SEZs that are operational, and more than 30 000 jobs have been created, speaks volumes of the capacity and potential of the programme to contribute immensely to the country’s economic growth, transformation and industrialisation,” Tau says.

He adds that the dtic will critically review the findings and recommendations provided by the World Bank and expand the SEZ programme to increase its economic impact in line with the dtic’s Revised Special Economic Zones Implementation Model.

Some of the report recommendations include establishing a formal five-year intervention framework for underperforming zones, extending a 15% corporate income tax rate to all SEZs and designating private-sector industrial parks within all SEZs using the Dube TradePort model.

Other recommendations include fomalising service-level agreements across the network, accelerating build-to-let mixed-use complexes to attract small and medium-sized enterprise tenants and formalising the SEZ fund with distinct infrastructure and top-structure pathways.

“We have already designed various interventions that we have prioritised for this financial year, some of which are in line with the recommendations of the study.

“These are going to result in more SEZs being designated, more investments flowing into the SEZs, more jobs being created and more small businesses being created in and around the SEZs,” concludes Tau.