South Africa President Jacob Zuma to formally unveil the plaque of the launch of the SA International Maritime Institute in Port Elizabeth on Friday
Port Elizabeth: 07 April 2016
Progress achieved to date on the launch and implementation of Operation Phakisa (Ocean Economy) comes under national spotlight in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape on Friday where South Africa President Jacob Zuma and some national and provincial government ministers hosts a function to provide feedback.
President Jacob Zuma is scheduled for the city Friday morning, flanked by among others, national Minister of Public Enterprises, Ms Lynne Brown, Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masaulle and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, Danny Jordaan.
Preliminary information indicates that highlights of the event will include a government tour of port infrastructure developments at the Port Elizabeth harbour early Friday.
This will be followed later in the day with a formal first visit by the President to the recently established South Africa International Maritime Institute (SAIMI), currently housed at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitican University’s Bird Street Campus.
SAIMI, an initiative of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), in partnership with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), was founded in late 2014 as a vehicle to promote and coordinate maritime education, skills development and research to support South Africa in harnessing the potential of its mostly untapped maritime resources.
Also, Operation Phakisa (Ocean Economy), the country’s most comprehensive maritime economy development focused programme was launched formally in 2014, with at least six subsectors of the maritime economic sector identified for specific focus for development investment in the following five years.
These comprise the Marine Transport and Manufacturing; Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration; Aquaculture; Marine Protection Services and Ocean Governance; Small Harbours Development; and Marine Tourism and Leisure.
The event in Port Elizabeth tomorrow starts early, preceded by a national report possibly to be televised live.
The SAMSA blog will keep you updated on the event in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.