By Lourens Schoeman
Nelson Mandela Bay may soon boast motorcycle and automotive parts manufacturing plants of almost R800-million after the president of a prominent international automotive company expressed keenness to invest in the area.
After a visit to the Logistics Park outside Uitenhage on Tuesday 12 September, Somporn Juangroongruangkit, president of the Thai Summit Group, asked for a map of the park "to see where it will be best to establish our factory".
Somporn said she and the rest of the powerhouse delegation had been impressed with what they had seen of Nelson Mandela Bay and especially the Logistics Park.
She said the company already had factories in Malaysia and India and thought it was now the right time to expand into Africa.
At a media briefing following a two-hour meeting with Executive Mayor Nondumiso
Maphazi and members of her Mayoral Committee, the company's business development
general manager, Sathien Jetanapong, said the company
had not initially been keen to invest in Nelson Mandela Bay, but after meeting
with the Executive Mayor and seeing the high quality infrastructure and the
region's beauty, they had reconsidered.
Jetanapong said the company was one of the largest motorcycle manufacturing companies in Asia and they were pleased to bring their expertise here. He said the company's initial investment would be around R750-million.
The visit by the delegation flows from the visit by the Eastern Cape delegation in June which was led by Premier Nosimo Balindlela and included Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Nondumiso Maphazi.
Mayor Maphazi told journalists at the media briefing that she had met with Somporn while the Eastern delegation was in Thailand and convinced her that Nelson Mandela Bay would be a good place to invest.
She said she believed that establishing the motorcycle manufacturing plant in Nelson Mandela Bay would have a huge impact on the economy of the region and job creation, while it could also lead to a new mode of transport. She added that it could also lead to increased recreation incentives in the region because of the large number of sports associated with motorcycles.
During their visit, the Thai delegation will also visit the Coega IDZ, General Motors and VWSA.
Thai Summit Group, of which the Thai Summit Auto Parts Company is a subsidiary, is one of the biggest players in supporting the auto business in Thailand. The group expects sales this year to grow 20 percent to US$660 million. The group is one of Thailand’s largest and has more than 30 subsidiaries and more than 13 000 employees, with five auto-part factories in Malaysia and India.
The company supplies auto parts to world renowned car manufacturers such as VW, General Motors, Daimler Chrysler and Volvo.
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