Durban trade centre is key to prosperity

摘要

A multi-million dollar development should unlock a part of South Africa's potential for trade in produce. South Africa appears set to become a major player in the international fruit, vegetables and flowers export market with plans for a massive new international trade zone that includes a state-of-the-art perishables centre. However, industry leaders in Durban deny that they are trying to outdo the trading hubs already established in places like Dubai and Singapore, for example, saying that they just want to share in what they see as a lucrative trade. "There is a great demand for perishables and we have both quality and quantity here," said Hamish Erskine, project executive of the proposed Dube Tradeport that is to be built at La Mercy, alongsidea new international airport to be relocated outside Durban - the Indian Ocean coastal commercial centre of South Africa's sub-tropical KwaZulu-Natal province - within the next few years.