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Midlands Correspondent
INDUSTRY lobby group, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has started carrying out a survey to assess the impact of Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016 on the country’s manufacturing sector.

Already some snap surveys have shown increased stocking of local products in shops with some operators recording brisk business.

The Government enacted SI 64/2016 in June this year as part of measures to control rampant imports that had flooded the market and threatening the viability of local firms.

A number of products, which are manufactured locally, were removed from the open general import licence and this included selected processed foods, building materials, furniture and pharmaceutical products.

CZI president Mr Busisa Moyo called on players in the manufacturing sector to take part in the survey, which he said will determine the industrial lobby group’s course of action going forward.

“There is a SI 64 (of 2016) survey, which we are conducting to assess the impact of the piece of legislation to stimulate local production.

“I want to encourage our members to respond positively to this call because we want to come up with a robust report, which will help us to strategise for the future,” he said.

The CZI boss said his organisation will soon be launching a capacity utilisation survey together with the business confidence index.

Meanwhile, CZI will in November hold an expo in Harare where local manufacturers will showcase their products.

“The thinking behind that expo is to say that the public does not know the goods that are manufactured locally and so we would like to showcase locally manufactured products and get them into the eye of the public.

“There are some people who say there is no industry in Zimbabwe but we are saying we are very much alive despite the challenges and therefore we would like to showcase our products,” Mr Moyo said.