By Nangamso Mabindla
5 September 2005

THE future looks bright for Buffalo City, according to Martin Kuchler, the project manager of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation Centre for Investment and Marketing. Despite being one of the poorer provinces in the country, the Eastern Cape has the potential to attract big investors, he says.

His statement follows the naming in June by the two Eastern Cape Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) - in East London in Buffalo City and Coega in the Nelson Mandela Metropole - of their first investors.

Kuchler, who hails from Germany, moved to the Eastern Cape as part of the CIM Integrated Experts programme, which placed professionals in developing countries in Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, Asia and Latin America to help those nations.

He came to the province to assist the provincial and local governments in the fields of investment and tourism promotion.

Because of its strong business links with Germany, the Easter Cape was chosen to be part of the CIM Integrated Experts programme. German car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler has a presence in East London, while Volkswagen makes cars in Uitenhage, in the Nelson Mandela Metro.

"My job is to make the province known, especially in German-speaking countries," Kuchler says. "We also want to bring potential investors to the province."

This would be done by attracting more professionals to the province, thus creating an investor-friendly environment.

"The Eastern Cape people are very friendly and welcoming to investors; that is their culture. However, we need to bring in more professionals so that the there is productivity to go with the welcoming attitude," Kuchler explains.

He works closely with the Buffalo City local economic development and tourism departments to improve the City's tourism. "Buffalo City has beautiful landscapes and climate. There are a lot of tourism opportunities here. This is where we need to find opportunities to put this city on the map."

Buffalo City and Cintsa are the best kept secrets among backpackers, he says. "These are some of the things we have in this city - and our beaches are among the most beautiful in the country."

Turning to business opportunities, Kuchler says the City needs to go the extra mile if it wants to lure investors. In addition, the City and the province need to create business opportunities outside motor manufacturing.

"I think our economy is too reliant on the automotive industry. There is nothing wrong with that, but we need to be more creative with our thinking. We need to open opportunities for other business sectors to flourish in the province."

However, Kuchler does see more opportunities in the automotive sector. He says money needs to be invested in promoting automotive services like testing cars on the West Bank Formula 1 circuit, testing tyres and automotive-related research.

"We can use opportunities in this sector and put the province on the map. We also need to attract local investors into our IDZs. Remember, our IDZs compete with others around the world. It is therefore important to attract local investors into our zones."

There are many opportunities for business in the province, especially in media and film production, tourism, law, accounting and the automotive industry.

"Finance is not really an issue - we need expertise and skill. But the future looks bright," Kuchler concludes.