... HOPE ALL STAKEHOLDERS WILL ACCEPT SEZ ACT AMENDMENTS

MBABANE – SEMLEX Group comes at a time when the country was working around amending the Special Economic Zones Act of 2018 in a bid to attract more foreign director investment (FDI).

Chairperson of the Special Economic Zones Committee Albert Chibi said they were hoping that once the amendments had been completed, all stakeholders would accept them. He said accepting the amendments of this Act, would make their work as a committee seamless. As part of the amendment processes, a diagnostic process was carried out by the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) from the Republic of China (Taiwan), through an intergovernmental cooperation arrangement, agreed to assist Eswatini in reforming the SEZ legislation.

Systems

Last month, International Integrated Systems, Inc (IISI), a consultancy from Taiwan presented the report, detailing the gaps that a country needs to address to attract investors. IISI Director International Division Jerry Wang said special economic zones remained a key catalyst to stimulate economic development. He said while other countries have different objectives of having established these economic zones, empirical evidence showed that they were a cornerstone for economic development. Wang said for the special economic zones phenomenon to be a success in the Kingdom of Eswatini, government should review the special economic zones Act of 2018. He said this would ensure that it was in line with global requirements.

Furthermore, government should fast-track the issue of providing outstanding infrastructure requirement such as the completion of the one-stop-shop service centre to host the relevant service provider. He presented that indeed the SEZ Act needed significant amendment to increase legal transparency and strengthen the organisation and functions of the SEZ Committee. He said the enforcement rules and related regulations of the SEZ Act must be completed to facilitate investment promotion and development of the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).

Amendment

Meanwhile, the RSTP Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Khanyisile Dlamini said the findings made by the Taiwanese consultant showed that the SEZ Act needs significant amendment to increase legal transparency and strengthen the organisation and functions of the SEZ committee. Dlamini said the review of the Act was proposed to include the review of the roles and responsibilities of key players in the SEZ programme, which include developers, operators and implementing agencies. She said supporting this SEZ programme was of national interest as it would reap positive results for the country at large, specifically as it would increase:
i) Foreign and domestic private sector investment;
ii) Job creation;
iii) Income generation – both direct (within the zone) and indirect through backwards and forwards linkages with businesses outside the zone;
iv) Export growth and diversification and increase in foreign exchange;
v) industrial development and other sectors requiring services and specialised infrastructure;
vi) Skills upgrade, technological transfer and many more.

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