Richards Bay pitches for truck factory deal
Richards Bay may be home to a new Minsk Tractor Works base.
RICHARDS Bay is in the running to become a base for foreign industrial tractor and truck manufacturer Minsk Tractor Works, based in Belarus.
A South African delegation, headed by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana, and AmaHlubi King Mthimkhulu III, left for Belarus today to wrap up agreements that would pave the way for the establishment of an assembly plant in northern KZN.
Delegates are also setting out to strengthen ties with the country for agricultural investment and trade with KZN.
The group is visiting Minsk Tractor Works and Zhodino, a town outside Minsk, to visit a factory manufacturing heavy trucks.
However, King Mthimkhulu III expressed his concern that the absence of a container terminal at the Port of Richards Bay could work against arrangements for the investment.
‘The lack of a container shipping connection from Belarus could be a deal breaker for the assembly plants in Richards Bay and I plan to call on Minister Zokwana’s assistance in this regard.’
The Minsk Tractor Plant was founded in 1946 and is now one of the largest vendors of agricultural machinery in the world.
