A couple of years ago the provincial government made a deep commitment to transforming this province. We called this plan iKapa elihlumayo, 'growing and sharing the Cape', at the heart of which was the desire to uplift all the people of this province and put hope and food on everyone's daily menu. In this way we have set ourselves the goal or recreating the Western Cape as a Home for All.
Recent research gives us reason to believe that every time the CTICC opens its doors for business, it has the effect of putting food on the tables of the people who are the lifeblood of the Western Cape economy. Every day, it takes the ordinary men and women of this province a few steps further along the road to a life of meaning and dignity. The net effect is that the CTICC makes iKapa elihlumayo more of a reality, and less of a vision.
The CTICC is the best performing of Southern Africa's Convention Centres and the most operationally profitable. The success can be attributed amongst others to containing costs, good business and effective management.
To say that this centre is doing very well, is pure understatement. The CTICC is doing two and a half times better than expected. Two and a half times the projected success is almost unheard of for a one-year-old enterprise.
Two and a half times better than expected means the ripples will be felt far beyond the borders of our Province. It means a warm glow will be felt in all sectors of the economy, and all across our country. It means a great multitude of men and women will register the impact on their lives, in very real ways.
This is because the centre will create 3900 direct jobs for the people of the Western Cape in 2005, after already having created 2700 jobs during construction and 3668 in its first year of operation.
The CTICC has contributed R2.4-billion to the country's coffers, and according to the recent economic impact study, it has been established that it will pile another R9.5-billion onto the country's Gross Domestic Product over the next five years.
It is estimated that the CTICC contributed R869-million to the GDP during construction and a further R1.5 billion during the 2003/4 financial year, the first year of operation for the centre. Local and international delegates were responsible for the largest portion of the spending at R1.3-billion.
GDP is important because it is fundamental to the economic quality of life of all South Africans. GDP has the capacity to add wealth. For this reason, the CTICC will play a pivotal role in bringing this country to optimum economic health. One could even say that because of its capacity to foster prosperity, this centre is a veritable stage for the process of nation building.
It is anticipated that the annual contribution to the GDP will increase from R1.5-billion per year to R2.15-billion over the next five years. This is due to the expected increase in the size and number of conventions hosted and the anticipated increase in the number of convention delegates who will return to the Cape on holiday, many of which will bring their families. The effect of this, of course, will be an increase in tourism spending in the province. Tourism currently contributes 22% of the GDP of the Western Cape, and the CTICC already plays a central role in tourism spending.
During the 2003/2004 financial year, the CTICC recorded 871 000 delegate and visitor days, of which 121 000 were internationals. This is expected to increase to over a million by 2009, 15% of which are expected to be international.
This building represents a powerful force in the process of job creation within the Province and the country as a whole. It also represents the new wave of socially intelligent commercialism which is shaping this province and this country of ours, and which is proving to be the only way to accumulate meaningful wealth in a responsible way.
The building of the CTICC confirmed what public and private sectors can achieve when they put their collective intellect, their collective commitment and their collective resources into one pot and stir it all up. This centre is complete affirmation that give-and-take is a very worthwhile principle of business.
I think everyone who played a part in the building of this centre can feel enormously proud. But now we need to continue to impress the local and international clients who spend vast amounts of money at the CTICC and in our city. Make no mistake, I feel deeply grateful for the business that they have brought here, and I know the Board of Convenco agrees 100% with me on that.
