Posted on 01/13/2008 8:08:25 AM PST by Clemenza
Dubai is investing $600m in one of the poorest counties in the US to set up a manufacturing and distribution complex that would serve as a major logistical hub for North America.
The long-term aim, according to people familiar with the deal, is to take advantage of a new generation of larger merchant ships passing from Asia through the soon to be widened Panama Canal and docking at ports such as Charleston and Savannah, seen as future primary gateways to the US.
The project is being handled by Jafza, a unit of the government-owned Dubai World group, which has bought land in South Carolina’s Orangeburg County.
Parts of South Carolina, which on January 26 holds one of the country’s key presidential primaries, are so underdeveloped that the area has been dubbed the US’s “corridor of shame”.
Jafza, which operates Dubai’s Jebel Ali free zone, is a sister company of DP World, which sparked a political furore last year when it acquired the management of six major US ports through its purchase of P&O. Although that deal was backed by the Bush administration, political opposition in Congress to handing over such strategic facilities to a Middle Eastern company persuaded Dubai to sell off the US interests.
So far the Orangeburg project, little reported outside the region, has not provoked significant opposition. Jim Clyburn, Democratic congressman for the district, told The State newspaper in South Carolina that support for the plan was “overwhelming”.
When Jafza bought 1,300 acres of land in the area in October, its first acquisition in the US, the company said it planned to invest about $600m (£306m, €406m) to create a world-class logistics and business park that would include light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities.
“Jafza’s long-term strategy is to develop a global logistics platform, and Orangeburg is one more major step in that direction,” said Salma Hareb, Jafza’s chief executive officer.
The project aims to create 8,000 to 10,000 jobs in an area of high unemployment, predominantly among African-Americans, and to attract further private investment of $1.2bn. It trumped a plan by the Catawba Indian tribe to set up a high-stakes casino on the land.
Jim Hodges, a former South Carolina governor who advises the Dubai company, told the FT: “Jafza looked at changing shipping patterns, particularly on the west coast, and saw that, with the expansion of the Panama Canal, it would be easier for Asian companies to ship through the canal to the south east.” Panama is spending $5bn to double the capacity of the waterway over the next decade.
Mr Hodges said the Orangeburg project should not be compared to the controversial DP World deal. “Congress overreacted to a company and a country with which the US has good relations. This, however, is not ports but a business park.”
He said the hundreds of companies that might be encouraged to relocate there could use the hub to repackage imported goods or add content to imported components for re-export.
Orangeburg County straddles Interstate 95, the US’s main Atlantic coast highway from Maine to Florida, where it crosses I-26, a main south-east highway. “It’s a great North American entry point,” said Gregg Robinson, head of the Orangeburg County Development Commission.
“Seventy-five per cent of the US market place is east of the Mississippi,” Mr Robinson told the FT. “What we envision is the arrival of a significant number of companies that have an international presence.”
This is good news. Every bit of investment in America by any company ought to be welcomed.
IBTB...(in before the Buchananites)
Funny, I lived not far from there for seven years and NEVER ONCE heard Orangeburg County referred to as the “Corridor of Shame.” However, eastern South Carolina between the Midlands (Columbia) and the coast is poor in many spots, and this sort of economic development is going to be a huge shot in the arm to Orangeburg. It’s only too bad that Jim Clyburn, one of Congress’ ultimate race pimps, is going to probably get the credit for it.
}:-)4
so the domestic economy will be destroyed completely and forever.
Because American jobs and American workers only count if they aren't working for foreign companies. Because foreigners are dirty. And US dollars paid to American workers by foreigners are dirty.
There, I finished it for you.
Wow, I didn’t beat him by much...good job finishing his thought.
The corridor of shame tag does not refer to how developed the counties are nor does it refer to their low income levels. It refers to the badly neglected rural schools in South Carolina. It comes from a documentary by the same name and was put out by our very own South Carolina Public Broadcasting.
There's no real problem with this. Dubai's financial concerns are investing in the safest harbor in the world for investment: the United States. And they are purchasing at a time when the dollar is cheap and land prices are down.
This is a no-brainer.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Oh? By whom? Based on what? And, more importantly, who gives a rat's patootie? It must not be that shameful. Why else the $500+M investment?
Why would any rational, intelligent, knowlgeable, politically savy individual object to this project?
That's a her and she doesn't have much in the way of thought.
When I lived in Charleston in the 60’s the interstate from Columbia to Charleston was known as The Camel Trail because there was no water or gas or restrooms
1. Its wrong for Americans to buy alot of imports because all the money "goes out of the country" forever.
2. When Gulf States and China take the dollars we gave them and REINVEST IT in America (thereby negating point #1), it is still a bad thing because "furriners control our economy."
I'm used to hearing that line of thought in Latin America and the Carribbean. Its REALLY done wonders down there when put into practice (Look up Raul Prebisch sometime).
Nothing is perfect. Our founders did not want America to get involved in foreign entanglements. Since foreigners will have ownership they will be able to make management decisions some of which may not always be in the best interest of the U.S..
We would be better off if we invested in this ourselves.
This is a flat-out lie. We all know that the US's "corridor of shame" runs from Washington, DC through New York City and on to Massachusetts...
It just feels (yes, *feels) creepy that another country has to upgrade our business. When the Japanese were buying up the country, it felt creepy that the US couldn’t upgrade, and it’s the same now. Are we so bloody poor that other countries have to modernize us?
I don't necessarily object to it, but am saddened by the state of affairs both here and abroad, which brought it about.
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