The government of South Sudan has officially launched the construction of a Juba Specialised Economic Zone (SEZ), an industrial area for business and investments activities.
Minister Garang Diing Akuong (C) with other officials at the groundbreaking ceremony (L.Lomoyat)
The 625 square km land, located about 30km from the South Sudan capital, Juba will reportedly be used for building a new modern city, mainly for large businesses that will boost the young nation's economy.
While speaking at the ground breaking ceremony held in Jokukwe boma, the country's commerce, industry and investment minister said the creation of the SEZ indicates the desire and determination of South Sudan's Central Equatoria state to encourage and promote investments and economic development in the state.
Garang Diing Akuong, however, said South Sudan President Salva Kiir will do whatever it takes to promote peace and unity, which he described as prerequisites for a conducive investment climate.
"The specialized Economic Zone is indeed in line with the policy of the government of the Republic of South Sudan, which promotes national and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Sudan", said Akuong, who represented President Kiir at the occasion.
The FDI investment inflow, the minister added, will not happen if there are no clear investment policies at national or state levels.
"..nevertheless, provisions of these kind of infrastructure and availability of others such as tax incentive, non-tariff barriers, power, roads, access to finance etc, will pave the way for more investments to consider South Sudan as one of best investment destinations in the region if not the world", he stressed.
The minister further said South Sudan, with its rich natural resources, needs to diversify its resources in order to enhance economic growth and reduce too much dependency on other countries.
"To remedy this situation, we need to transform our economy in order to obtain stronger growth, economic diversification, job creation and socio-economic development", he noted.
