Caption: Ekurhuleni’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Imogen Mashazi, and Executive Vice President of Airport Cities, Alex Kirby, brief the media about economic spin offs of hosting the Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition (ACE 2013) for the first time in Africa.

Africa’s historic trade and transportation challenges will no longer be a barrier as Africa’s first Aerotropolis; the City of Ekurhuleni gears its engines to host the Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition (ACE 2013) – hosted for the first time in Africa next year.

This is according to the Executive Vice President of Airport Cities globally Alex Kirby who was briefing the media on the City’s hosting of the first ever ACE meeting on African soil earlier today.

“ACE is an annual one-stop global platform to facilitate discussion around critical issues in airport city development and brings together key parties to network and explore business opportunities leveraging on host cities and country’s economic advantages,” Kirby explained.

Kirby who is in the country to meet various stakeholders said it was befitting for Ekurhuleni and particularly for South Africa to host the world conference because of “South Africa’s position as the most developed country in Africa, offering the infrastructure and services that unlocks the region’s frontiers”.

“The aviation industry in South Africa is undergoing rapid expansion on the growth of businesses and leisure market travel which has spurred a significant infrastructure development programme at the country’s major airports.”

Kirby further said a sustainable and growing aerospace industry is key to the economic wealth and political ambition of South Africa.

“The aerospace industry can and should play a pivotal role over the next decade in ensuring the prosperity of the nation. The aerospace industry is a very powerful driver of innovation across the industrial base,” he said.

Ekurhuleni’s Acting Chief Executive Office Dr Imogen Mashazi said that the city working together with the Gauteng Province, national government and other strategic players such as the Airports Company of South Africa is determined to capitalize on the rare opportunity of hosting ACE 2013.

“For the next couple of years the City of Ekurhuleni plans to optimize the existence of the biggest airport in Africa the OR Tambo International Airport in the region together with other key development nodes under the city’s new growth path – the Aerotropolis. This will entail investment on new infrastructure to support logistics, distribution, and related green industries.”