Dube TradePort Corporation hosted the second annual Dube TradePort Investor Awards in early December. The awards bring together the stakeholders of Dube TradePort from a wide variety of industries from the private sector and include investors, entrepreneurs, tenants and service providers, with the aim of recognising enterprise development and service excellence.

“These awards recognise excellence in the performance of organisations operating with the various business developments that make up Dube TradePort. From investors who have successfully identified business opportunities within the precinct, or construction companies on site that have shown aptitude in delivering on their projects, especially with regards to crucial operational issues such as maintaining a safe working environment. From freight forwarding and shipping organisations who have been frequent users of our cargo terminal facility, to the resellers that have shown exceptional growth in their own businesses, by packaging services on our Dube iConnect cloud computing platform. These are just some of the organisations that contribute to Dube TradePort becoming Southern Africa’s premier air logistics platform.” said Ms Saxen van Coller, Dube TradePort CEO.

Many interesting developments have been announced in the last 36 months, the latest being the announcement of a landmark deal by Eureka Capita, who have signed a R 160 million lease agreement with Dube TradePort to develop a 7 storey 21500m² building in the heart of Dube City, adjacent to King Shaka International Airport. This building will house a state-of-the-art innovation hub and an office block.

Ms van Coller added, "KZN needs to put its best foot forward and work on the elements where we are not efficient. KZN has a good story to tell, we have to be competitive and cannot be complacent. We have the opportunity and we need to be hungry for business and aggressively get things done. Now is the time."

As Dube TradePort enters into an operational phase with many of its developments coming on stream, its role as a driver of economic growth in the region has become apparent. It is important to recognise the efforts of its stakeholders who have made a significant contribution in the good story that it has become for the province of KZN and the country as a whole. The challenges of addressing issues surrounding the socio economic impact of the project will continue to be met through the overwhelming support the development has received from its key stakeholders in the public and private sector, advocates in academia and in and around the neighbouring communities.

Ms van Coller remarked, “I would like to congratulate all the winners of the Dube TradePort Investor Awards and hope that as we move forward in this new and growing area, your investments prove successful and play a role in the socio economic growth of South Africa.”

Overall Winners:

Dube Cargo Terminal Award: Top Export Tonnage 2014
Winner: Aeromarine Freight Services
Dube Cargo Terminal Award: Top Import Tonnage 2014
Winner: Bidvest Panalpina Logistics
Dube TradePort Cargo Award: Top International Cargo Throughput 2014
Winner: Emirates SkyCargo
Dube TradePort Cargo Award: Top Domestic Cargo Throughput 2014
Winner: South African Airways Cargo
Dube TradePort Development Award: Commitment to the Dube TradePort Vision 2014
Winner: BrencoReelin Bearings SA
Dube TradePort CEO Award: Tenant of the Year 2014
Winner: Bidvest Panalpina Logistics
Dube AgriZone Excellence Award: Commitment to the Dube TradePort Vision 2014
Winner: Farmwise
Dube iConnect Excellence Award: Open source Integrator on the iConnect Platform 2014
Winner: DC Data
Dube iConnect Excellence Award: Microsoft Integrator on iConnect Platform 2014
Winner: Global Z Data
Dube TradePort Contractor Award: Safety Excellence 2014
Winner: Superclean
Dube TradePort Excellence Award: Most Valuable Contribution by a Tenant 2014
Winner: Calypso Property Group