South Africa has significant possibilities to grow its ship repair and boat building industry, with a large market in need of such services and a base from which the South African industry can emerge. These industries are labour intensive and have linkages to a range of other sectors. There are, however, a number of constraints that hold back the growth of the industry. Sheila Farrell will present the outcomes of a TIPS research project, which looked at the challenges facing the boat building and ship repair industry and the opportunities for the industry.
About the speaker
Sheila Farrell is an experienced international ports consultant who has undertaken around 120 port consulting assignments in more than 50 countries, most of them concerned with port economics and finance, tariff setting, port reform and privatisation, and regulation. Several of the projects have been linked to the development of port-related industries. She has over 40 years of experience of port and shipping consultancy. As well as working as a port consultant, she is also a Visiting Professor in Port Operations Research at Imperial College London. She is a member of an EU-funded multi-national group of academics undertaking a four year research programme into improving the effectiveness of public private partnerships (PPPs) in transport, and has written two books on the subject of financing transport infrastructure. She also writes and teaches on economic and financial issues relating to ports.