Speech by the City’s Executive Mayor,

City and Province announce new head of investment promotion

Western Cape , Helen Zille, and I are pleased to announce that Tim Harris will be joining the Office of the Executive Mayor to head up investment promotion in the City of .

He will focus on driving job creation and investment in Cape Town and will work to align the programmes of the City’s Economic Development Department, the Government, Wesgro, and the Economic Development Partnership. This will present a united front for investors looking to create jobs in our city.

Together with key departments in the administration, Tim will enhance the implementation of the City’s Economic Growth Strategy and our expanded investment incentive policy, and will work to fully realise our vision of Cape Town as an opportunity city.

Tim has contributed to the growth of the Democratic Alliance in many roles over the past 10 years, after working in investment banking. Most recently, as the DA’s Shadow Minister of Finance, he has led the process of developing the party’s policy package to deliver growth and jobs. He will now be focused on implementing many of these policy ideas in government and will play a central role in ensuring that our city fulfils its economic potential.

With two years to go until the local government election in 2016, we are committed to extending Cape Town’s lead as ’s premier investment destination. Our approach is in line with international best practice, best typified by Port Louis, Mauritius and Chicago and New York in the United States of America, and as articulated in our Economic Growth Strategy. It will help create the kind of economic growth that allows for social development through a broad policy of redress.

Furthermore it will require us to maintain our status as the best-run city in the country, but also to roll out the red carpet to those international and domestic investors and entrepreneurs who are committed to establishing and expanding their operations in Cape Town to help create the jobs we need.

With Tim on board, we will have an innovative approach to investment promotion that will add new vigour to our efforts to make progress possible. Together.