Nhlanhla Nene Minister of Finance alongside Michael Deighton President of SAPOA left and Neil Gopal CEO of SAPOA right at the Urban Investment Partnership Conference
The Urban Investments Partnership Conference, co-hosted by the Departments of Cooperative Governance and the Department of Finance was held today at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg. SAPOA was invited to present the commercial property industry’s perspective and challenges as far as investment and planning is concerned in metropolitan areas.
The aim of the two day conference is to facilitate discussion around urban investment, to renew and strengthen dialogue between government and the private sector and to leverage deeper and results-focused partnership between all stakeholders on urban investment needs and oppurtunities.
The 2015 budget highlighted critical roles of cities in facilitating faster and more inclusive economic growth for South Africa.
South Africa’s large Metro’s hosts a significant proportion of all national economic activity, and with the ongoing patterns of urbanization, they are home to an increasing number of the country’s population.
As the voice of commercial property, SAPOA:
· Recognises the importance of urban investment and development and will promote it, as far as it can, on all its platforms
· Recognises the need for urban transformation and will participate in the building of a sustainable system;
· Is committed to the performance of the commercial property industry and ensuring that it continues to add to the GDP of South Africa
· Remains committed to constructive engagement with all city authorities and government and management bodies
· Can assist in preparing consistent models of how we pay rates, taxes and contributions and the creation of strategic partnerships with local government.
Key speakers from the public sector included Minister of Co-Operative Governance, Minister Pravin Gordhan and Minister Nhlanhla Nene, Minister of Finance. The two day conference is in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
