South Africa is still an attractive investment destination and the Department of Trade and Industry’s InvestSA initiative still has a good investment pipeline, says InvestSA head Yunus Hoosen.

In a statement released on Tuesday, he noted that the initiative had a “number of investment projects that we will be working on again this year. More and more investors are keen to invest in this country.”

The initiative aims to attract and facilitate more domestic and foreign direct investments in the country this year.

“We will again be working hard to bring the much-needed investments into the country throughout this year as part of government’s efforts to achieve full-scale industrialisation, inclusive economic growth and job creation. The appetite and keenness of international companies to invest in South Africa were high last year.

“This is evidenced by the fact that last year we saw the launch of one multimillion-rand investment a month from January to December in the country, thereby creating thousands of jobs for the people of South Africa,” Hoosen added.

Last year, the country attracted a number of significant investors, including Beijing Automotive Interactive Corporation, which invested R11-billion; R5-billion from Acwa Power and a R2.5-billion investment from Ford, besides others.

“This provides evidence that South Africa has not lost its lustre as an investment destination of choice for multinational companies from various parts of the world.”

InvestSA aims to provide a one-stop-shop (OSS) service to investors, which includes investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare, all of which are geared at fast-tracking projects and reducing government red tape.

It is also tasked with the responsibility of facilitating the increase in the quality and quantity of foreign and domestic direct investment by providing an investment recruitment, problem-solving and information service to retain and expand investments.

“In addition to continuing to attract and facilitate investments, we will be embarking on a mission of establishing OSS throughout the country. We will be launching the national OSS in Pretoria early this year and then roll out to all provinces over the next three years,” said Hoosen.

The OSS will be the focal point of contact in government for all investors to coordinate and facilitate with the relevant government departments involved in regulatory, registration, permits and licensing.