Speech by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman
Patricia de Lille on the occasion of the launch of the
Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP)
Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille,
MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Minister Alan
Winde,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning, goeie dag, molweni.
This is a historic day for the Province and for the greater metro region.
This is a historic day for the City of Cape Town.
When I campaigned to be Mayor, I did so on a manifesto pledge that, if
elected, I would work with the Provincial Government and others to
establish a Western Cape Economic Development Agency.
In the time the form has changed.
So have the people involved.
Even the name has changed.
But the need has not.
The need for consolidated, strategic thinking to link the fundamental parts
of this broader economy has only grown.
Government has some interesting realities.
One of those realities are the numerous development strategies that build
up over time, either as legislative requirement or out of convention.
And if one sphere has so many plans, another sphere has double that.
Factor in the intentions of the private sector, that moves at a different
speed, and you have a recipe for disconnection.
We needed to overcome that.
We needed a vehicle which we would have faith in, a faith that would be
added to by the knowledge that others were using the same vehicle to get
to a common destination.
I believe that this is the example of a broader global realisation that
economic growth is powered by city regions.
In the 21st century, for cities to build competitive advantages, they
needed strategies that have real weight.
And of course, those strategies need to be coordinated by a guiding
agency.
I believe that we have found the answer to our local problem in the EDP
and that, with its establishment, we tap into a wider current of
developmental and economic best practice.
As our partner, the City of Cape Town believes that the EDP will help us
identify economic strategies to grow and develop and that it will help us
unlock a great deal of unrealised potential by facilitating a stronger
relationship with other stakeholders, including the private sector.
It is our hope and our belief that this Partnership will help us see the
bigger picture and help guide us in our long –term planning and thinking
so that the city moves forward into the future together.
We have provided seed funding for the EDP as a measure of our
confidence and this Partnership can succeed.
But it will only succeed if all stakeholders see it as the common point for
development strategies in the city-region and buy into it.
Stakeholders will have to engage with government no matter what
happens.
Let us engage and strategise together.
Let the EDP be the place where we engage as partners seeking to foster
develop, create job opportunities and build the African city of the future,
today.
Today marks the achievement of many political pledges.
But let this day be another milestone.
Let it be the milestone that saw a new era for this region’s development
and growth.
Thank you.