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Bulawayo which this week plays host to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the country’s premier international trade and investment showcase, should benefit most from the five-day business event.

The 58th edition of the international trade and investment showcase has attracted many local and international exhibitors represented by 14 countries.

Bulawayo like the rest of local authorities is exhibiting but the advantage of the host city is that exhibitors have an opportunity to see for themselves what the city is offering.

We want at this juncture to urge Bulawayo to be very aggressive in its marketing drive and organise business meetings even outside the schedule of the ZITF as well as conduct tours to market the city especially to foreign exhibitors. Bulawayo used to be the country’s industrial hub and this year’s ZITF is special in that it is coming at a time when the country is expecting a bumper harvest which is key to industrial growth for an agro-based economy like ours.

Agro-based industries are therefore guaranteed raw materials this year and going forward given what Government has put in place to ensure sustainable food production for many years to come. Food imports which used to gobble foreign currency running into millions of dollars is now a thing of the past and mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that even in drought years, the country is able to produce enough for its  consumption.

Food production will, in fact, be throughout the year which means cultivation of crops will be both under irrigation and dryland farming. Bulawayo used to have a number of food processing industries which should be revived now that the country is expecting a bumper harvest.

What is encouraging is that Government is committed to ensuring that Bulawayo regains its status as the country’s industrial hub hence it is prioritising the city when it comes to allocation of resources to revive industries.

To demonstrate its commitment, Government will today launch a $20 million facility to capacitate three Bulawayo-based companies to manufacture equipment for small-scale miners. The money will enable the companies to retool, re-equip and produce for the small-scale miners. The capital injection means more jobs for Bulawayo residents who will be employed directly by these companies as well as downstream industries.

The City of Bulawayo should therefore not be found wanting when it comes to providing services to new and old investors. The local authority should in fact brace for an industrial boom given the positive indicators already shown this year. Bulawayo in the past witnessed a flight of companies due to water shortages but following the good rains this season, all the city’s supply dams are full and as such there is adequate water for both industrial and domestic use.

The business community on its part should take advantage of the week’s interaction with foreign exhibitors to either market their products or enter into strategic partnerships. It is a fact that the major stumbling block in the quest to revive industries has been the lack of capital and partnerships can provide another avenue to resolve this challenge.

We want to once again urge all local companies and local authorities exhibiting at this year’s fair to ensure they derive maximum benefits from their participation. Government departments, we want to believe, will take the opportunity to engage potential investors in order to understand their expectations.

The thrust at the moment as enunciated by the Office of the President and Cabinet is to enhance ease of doing business and this is only possible if Government departments understand and appreciate investors’ expectations.