Some 100 new business projects are expected to settle in the Catumbela Industrial Development Hub (PDIC) in Lobito, Angola's Benguela province, hub chairman Samuel Orlando do Amaral said.

The hub will not only play an important role in promoting economic activity but will also raise living standards in the province by creating more quality employment opportunities and increasing the local supply of available goods, Amaral said.

It will also act as a platform for supplying Angola's remote southern provinces with similar employment possibilities and products, he said.

Amaral said the hub's benefits are not limited to Lobito.

"We really will be able to deliver products made here to other parts of the country that have not yet benefited from the arrival of new and different goods. And in this way, we will contribute to the improvement of their living standards," he said.

The Catumbela project is divided into three phases - the first is construction of the physical infrastructure, the second phase is attracting investors and the final phase is the start of production in the units.

"We have already moved on from phase one, as we have the infrastructure now in place," said Amaral, adding that "we are well on the way to securing the investors and bringing them in".

When the hub is up and running, companies based there will be producing a wide range of goods - food, clothing, furniture and just about anything the local economy will need.

"We will have the capacity here in Catumbela to produce a little bit of everything," Amaral said.

Amaral said the decision to place the hub in Benguela was wise.

"To have the hub here was a natural progression, given the infrastructure we already have in place in the province," he said, adding that "the port of Lobito is close by and will serve as a natural entrance and exit for raw materials and products".

The port is in the process of being linked to other parts of Angola and neighboring countries via rail links, and there is also talk of building an international airport in the province.

"We have the optimum conditions in this province for this project," Amaral said.

China Daily

(China Daily 02/29/2012 page29)