PUBLISHER: Freight News (www.freightnews.co.za)
Trade facilitation is a newly established focus area at the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located in the City of Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa. The focus area brings together customs, investor services, and logistics to the internationally acclaimed and award-winning 9003ha Coega SEZ and Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park (NMBLP), says Graham Taylor, CDC’s trade facilitation manager.
Emerging perspectives indicate that growth reforms in the SEZs and seaports complex need to be pursued in five thematic areas, namely: modernising transportation networks; enhancing competition; labour-intensive growth; trade policy; and export competitiveness and regional growth opportunities. While there is an assumption that seaports bring local economic development, advances in transportation technology indicate the need for logistics industries to support these ports.