A FORMER trade and industry official who was involved in the implementation of the arms deal's offset programme has denied claims that he is profiting from his directorship of the Coega Development Corporation.

Paul Jourdan said yesterday that apart from being reimbursed for his flights when he attended Coega-related business meetings in Port Elizabeth, "the only benefit I receive is in the form of tea and biscuits".

Jourdan said he was upset by reports on Coega hinting that he might have a conflict of interest. He said while there were plans to make the corporation a private company, it was currently a state body owned jointly by the trade and industry department and the Eastern Cape Development Agency.

Jourdan said: "I get absolutely no remuneration for sitting on the board, nor do I own any stocks and shares in any company, let alone one receiving any contracts (from the corporation)," he said.

Jourdan currently heads Mintek, the state-owned metals and minerals research and development body.

Jourdan said he was not involved in the negotiation of the arms offset deal, but that he was brought in to improve the civilian offset offers after foreign suppliers were appointed.

At the time he was a deputy director in charge of special projects at the trade and industry department, a job which also involved the planning of special industrial development zones.

Jourdan was also involved in the planning of industrial development zones for the car making industry. This was part of a bid by the state to anchor existing car plants in the Eastern Cape and to attract new ones.

Jourdan said it made sense to cluster metallurgical investment in the Eastern Cape, close to demand from the car industry.

However, he insisted that companies selected their own projects and that the ultimate location would be determined by economic considerations.

Jourdan said his involvement with the arms deal was designed to help bring down the cost to taxpayers and to secure the largest possible value from the industrial offsets.

"I do not deny that I looked at options for offsets, some of which were at Coega, but only in the context of selecting the right projects," he said.

"A project must make sense with or without the offsets and I had nothing to do with the selection of individual offset projects, although I was asked from time to time to give my opinion."

Jourdan expressed confidence that, in the long-term, Coega would develop into a highly profitable port. He said Mintek was trying to attract international investors to SA.

"But we are not favouring Coega above any other location. The final decision must be economic," he said.  

With acknowledgment to John Fraser  and Business Day.