Operated by Wesgro and the Western Cape provincial government, the InvestSA One Stop Shop (OSS) Western Cape is the first in the country to launch a virtual online booking platform that streamlines government services through digital solutions, making it easier to invest in the Western Cape or expand a business’ exporting capabilities.

‘As part of our continuous improvement in enhancing investor services and facilitation, the online booking platform is another innovative product in our One Stop Shop suite of services,’ says Yunus Hoosen, head of InvestSA. ‘This will make it easier for investors to connect and have meetings on investment.’

Tasked with investment and export facilitation, and enhancing the ease of doing business in the Cape, the OSS is a collaborative platform between various arms of national, provincial and local government that endeavour to assist investors with navigating regulatory and administrative bottlenecks.

Through the OSS, potential investors can access national and provincial regulators including the Department of Labour; Home Affairs; Red Tape Reduction Unit; Department of Trade, Industry and Competition; SARS; National Regulator of Compulsory Specifications; Cape BPO; VFS Global, and Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. On a provincial level, investors can access the Western Cape government; City of Cape Town; GreenCape; Saldanha Bay industrial development zone; and Atlantis special economic zone.

Strategically positioned to be the first point of entry for multinational corporations seeking to invest in Cape Town and the Western Cape, the ultra-modern, state-of-the-art OSS space was launched in 2017 in the heart of the Cape Town CBD in St George’s Mall. It is therefore perfectly positioned to accept ‘walk ins’ from would-be investors visiting the Mother City.

Prior to the global pandemic, the OSS already had plans in the pipeline to launch an online consultation option – making its services accessible to potential investors anywhere in the world. Now, in three simple steps, potential investors are able to view available dates and time slots of the chosen entity they wish to meet with, and select their preferred virtual-meeting platform from as many as six options, namely MS Teams, Google Hangouts, Zoom, WhatsApp, Cisco Jabber or a conference call.

‘In order to maximise our investment potential, we needed to maximise our availability to potential investors, and this is exactly what our OSS online-booking system enables,’ says David Maynier, the Western Cape MEC of finance and economic opportunities. ‘We are proud to be pioneering the way forward, encouraging other one-stop shops to follow suit.’

James Vos, alderman and MEC of economic opportunities and asset management, adds that ‘we pride ourselves on being Africa’s tech capital, and being the first one-stop shop to expand our support to investors anywhere in the world through the option of a virtual consultation only strengthens our positioning. COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst to speed up the implementation of online solutions, and we look forward to the increased investment opportunities the online booking system will bring’.

According to Salman Kajie, head of InvestSA One Stop Shop Western Cape, queueing for hours in overcrowded government departments is no longer a safe or viable option. ‘The launch of the online booking system is just another way we’re increasing the ease of doing business in Cape Town and the Western Cape, as well as making our support more accessible to not only investors abroad, but those within South Africa and Western Cape regions,’ he says.

Kajie adds that ‘we are open for business, and encourage local and international investors to book a consultation today with one of our sectorial specialists’.

+27 (0)21 487 8600
www.wesgro.co.za/invest/one-stop-shop/book