Addressing an investment summit in Swaziland recently, Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla said: "As we seek to attract new investments and tourism into our region we need to think more and more about the types of collaboration that will ensure that we are all well-positioned to benefit from the 2010 World Cup and beyond."
Makwetla said South Africa's Local Organising Committee (LOC) had called it "Africa's World Cup" to signify that it is not only about building new stadia or hosting 64 matches across the country, but about delivering a long-lasting developmental legacy and placing Africa in its rightful place among the community of nations.
He said the provincial capital of Mpumalanga, Nelspruit, is one of the host cities and is using the opportunity to promote Swaziland and Mozambique too.
The South African government has set aside R17.4 billion as direct investment in the world cup, which forms part of an integrated infrastructure spending programme amounting to more than R400 billion between 2006 and 2010.
He said strengthened partnerships would also lead to further development in the region which has a population of 24 million people, an enormous wealth in natural resources and was home to massive industrial companies such as Mozal, Sasol, Columbus Steel, TSB Sugar and the Simunye Sugar Corporation.
"Without sufficient collaboration in our region we will not realise the enormous potential that we have. We are likely to fail in uplifting our people from the burden of poverty and underdevelopment if we do not pay sufficient attention to this."
He said the region as a whole was rich in minerals, fertile land for agriculture, extensive manufacturing capabilities and had access to adequate infrastructure and logistics such as the Maputo Development Corridor and the Maputo harbour.
Its tourism and heritage assets include the Malolotja-Songimvelo Transfrontier Park, Kruger National Park and the Blyde River Canyon.
Makwetla said that in terms of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area, increased collaboration and co-operation in the region could act as a catalyst for growth and a means of attracting investment and establishing new, mutually beneficial trade relationships.
He said it would require more than simple networking, but the possible sharing of resources.
The investment seminar was organised by the South African High Commission in Swaziland in partnership with the government of Swaziland, the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA).
