This week, Alderman James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth,conducted roundtable discussions with the leadership of the French South African Chamber of Commerce as part of a broader goal to position Cape Town as the go-to investment hub on the continent.
Alderman Vos sat down with the Chamber’s Vice Chairman and Cape Town Representative, Philip Geromont, to highlight the significant travel and trade relations between France and the Mother City and to further showcase the metro’s investment opportunities.
‘Between 2003 and 2020, French companies invested into 18 projects in the Western Cape, bringing in R10,788 billion in investments and creating thousands of jobs. These figures underscore the importance of their country to the Western Cape and Cape Town’s economies.
‘The City has a dedicated Investment Facilitation branch within the Enterprise and Investment Department that is committed to helping businesses of different sizes and industry land and expand their operations in Cape Town,’ said Alderman Vos.
Since its establishment in 2017, the Investment Facilitation branch has engaged hundreds of businesses and has assisted more than 20 companies, unlocking investments worth billions of rands and thousands of job opportunities.
Travellers from France are equally significant to Cape Town and the province with French arrivals to the Western Cape increasing by 32,93% between 2015 and 2018 to 102,007 tourists.
‘With a similar passion for wine, cuisine and culture, it’s no wonder that the French love to visit and experience what our city has to offer. Through the Air Access initiative, which is funded by the City, we are working hard to connect Cape Town directly to more key source markets such as Paris. The goal is to have the Paris-to-Cape Town direct route up and running before the end of this year.
‘As we reopen our doors to the world, we must firm up our partnerships with business and industry leaders and show them the full potential of Cape Town as the ideal destination for travel, trade, and investments so that we fire up our economy and get more Capetonians to work,’ said Alderman Vos.