Authorities tell us the visit by the UAE royals is private.
Maybe that partly explains why there was so much secrecy about it in the first three days of this week until this paper started putting pieces together.
The visit comes hot on the heels of a tour to the Emirates a few weeks back by Premier Oscar Mabuyane, which he said was to lure trade and investment opportunities for our province.
It also follows Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha's recent policy speech in which he announced his department was engaging with the UAE with a view to making them an additional tenant of the Bhisho airport.
He said the UAE would invest around R50m to upgrade the airport as part of a pledge by their late president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the father of MBZ.
From what we know thus far, the arrival of the royals should be celebrated as it will help market the Eastern Cape.
That brings hope for our province in its quest to revive the economy, still staggering from two years of pandemic lockdowns and now the constant bombardment of load-shedding.
The arrival of the royals has shown the capacity of the Bhisho airport to handle huge aircraft.
Our provincial government should put this capacity at the centre of an aggressive drive to attract more investors to the province.
With the vast tourist attractions in the province, including the game reserves and cultural attractions, we hope for more arrivals of similar nature.
According to Nqatha his department facilitated a feasibility assessment for using the Bhisho airport in the short-term as an aeronautical hub comprising several uses but anchored by a flight school, and long-term development of an agro-processing centre with air export requirements.
Such investments, we hope, will be a launchpad for more forward and backward linkages for businesses in the Eastern Cape.
In a province where, by the third quarter of 2022 the official unemployment rate was 42.4% - the highest in SA at the time - any prospects for investments must be harnessed.
We hope the villagers around that airport benefit from spin-offs of business activities at the facility.
We also hope that when the UAE royals return home they will have a good story to tell about Eastern Cape as a tourist and investment destination.
DispatchLIVE
OPINION | Visit by UAE royals should result in positive spinoffs
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Image: THEO JEPTHA
The sleepy, barely known little Bulembu Airport at Bhisho has been a hive of activity this week.
It has been graced by the arrival of several planes, both passenger and cargo, carrying the rich and famous United Arab Emirates (UAE) royals, including their president, Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, known as MBZ.
Authorities tell us the visit by the UAE royals is private.
Maybe that partly explains why there was so much secrecy about it in the first three days of this week until this paper started putting pieces together.
The visit comes hot on the heels of a tour to the Emirates a few weeks back by Premier Oscar Mabuyane, which he said was to lure trade and investment opportunities for our province.
It also follows Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha's recent policy speech in which he announced his department was engaging with the UAE with a view to making them an additional tenant of the Bhisho airport.
He said the UAE would invest around R50m to upgrade the airport as part of a pledge by their late president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the father of MBZ.
From what we know thus far, the arrival of the royals should be celebrated as it will help market the Eastern Cape.
That brings hope for our province in its quest to revive the economy, still staggering from two years of pandemic lockdowns and now the constant bombardment of load-shedding.
The arrival of the royals has shown the capacity of the Bhisho airport to handle huge aircraft.
Our provincial government should put this capacity at the centre of an aggressive drive to attract more investors to the province.
With the vast tourist attractions in the province, including the game reserves and cultural attractions, we hope for more arrivals of similar nature.
According to Nqatha his department facilitated a feasibility assessment for using the Bhisho airport in the short-term as an aeronautical hub comprising several uses but anchored by a flight school, and long-term development of an agro-processing centre with air export requirements.
Such investments, we hope, will be a launchpad for more forward and backward linkages for businesses in the Eastern Cape.
In a province where, by the third quarter of 2022 the official unemployment rate was 42.4% - the highest in SA at the time - any prospects for investments must be harnessed.
We hope the villagers around that airport benefit from spin-offs of business activities at the facility.
We also hope that when the UAE royals return home they will have a good story to tell about Eastern Cape as a tourist and investment destination.
DispatchLIVE
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