Port Elizabeth - The minister of Trade and Industry, Alec Erwin, has awarded a provisional operator's licence to the Coega Development Corporation which will enable it to operate the Coega Industrial Development Zone outside Port Elizabeth.

Erwin said the provisional operator's licence means that the CDC could proceed with the next phase of the development of infrastructure for the zone.

Erwin also announced the decision of the Critical Infrastructure Committee of the Department of Trade and Industry to provide a grant of R58.2 million for the construction of key infrastructure in the IDZ.

At a meeting in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, Eastern Cape premier Makhenkesi Stofile, Erwin, and public enterprises minister Jeff Radebe reaffirmed government's commitment to the accelerated development of the Coega project.

The meeting in the Coega Development Corporation's offices in Port Elizabeth was also attended by the executive mayor of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, Nceba Faku, the MEC for economic affairs in the Eastern Cape, Enoch Godongwana, the director-general of the department of trade and industry, Dr Alastair Ruiters, the CEOs of the national port authority and the Coega Development Corporation, as well other senior officials from all three tiers of government.

Erwin said the declaration of the IDZ late last year, the granting of the provisional operator's licence and the provision of funding, reflected national Government's commitment to successfully implementing the Coega Project.

Radebe confirmed government's decision as a shareholder of Transnet to develop the port of Ngqurha. This will be an investment of approximately R2.65 billion.

The marine tender for the construction of the port would be issued on Thursday, January 31.

Stofile said provincial government had been one of the driving forces behind the project thus far and would continue to play a leading role in the development of the IDZ.

"I am delighted to see the Eastern Cape take the lead in terms of industrial development in South Africa."