Zimpapers Logo

THE government says it would like to see Chinese developers becoming heavily involved in the development of infrastructure for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that will be set up across the country.

In Zimbabwe, the spirit of establishing SEZs is encapsulated in the broad socio-economic policy, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).

The government has already shown a lot of political will in this respect, with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion earlier announcing that the proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act would be promulgated by June this year.

Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha told a visiting 25-member Chinese delegation led by the Chinese Council for Promoting South-South Cooperation during a meeting with their local counterparts, that Zimbabwe is interested in engaging Chinese developers to set up SEZs infrastructure across the country.

“In any form of industrial park, what is critical is the provision of the infrastructure and it is on that area that I would like to interest our Chinese partners to come on board in providing the infrastructure for this (Sunway City) and other industrial parks that we will be developing across the country,” said Minister Bimha.

The Chinese delegation had an opportunity to tour Sunway City (Pvt) Ltd — a 1,559 hectare land bank that is currently being transformed into a world class integrated industrial, commercial, institutional and residential park that will provide relevant infrastructural development to facilitate industrialisation and economic growth of the country.

Sunway City (Pvt) Ltd is also expected to assist Zimbabwe’s expansion into regional trade, as well as in the broader Sadc regional integration agenda.

Besides Sunway City (Pvt) Ltd, Zimbabwe has also identified three other pilot projects for the development of industrial parks.

These include: the diamond cutting and polishing in Mutare and Harare, petroleum, chemical and gas production in Lupane; and a tourism park in the resort town of Victoria Falls, which have already received Cabinet approval.

Zimbabwe has hitherto had some experiences of “industrial parks”, that is, the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) that eventually were made redundant by policy changes.

In addition to SEZs infrastructure, Minister Bimha said they were looking to partner Chinese businesses in terms of Zimbabwe’s ‘Cotton-to-Clothing strategy’ — which seeks to revive the local textiles and clothing industry — and in the diverse areas of agro-processing.

The meeting between the Chinese delegation and local businesspersons, which was also aimed at tackling policy, regulatory and legal aspects affecting investment in the country, saw the Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Simon Khaya Moyo assuring the potential investors that government was working to improve the macro-economic environment. — BH24