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Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi

Oliver Kazunga recently in Lupane
The Government has identified Tokwe Mukorsi in Masvingo as the fourth pilot Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under Zim-Asset’s food and nutrition cluster.

Last year, the Government identified Sunway City in Harare, Bulawayo industrial hub, and the Victoria Falls tourism hub as the first three pilot SEZs.

Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, in a speech read on his behalf by his principal director, Mr Taguma Mahonde, said:

“In pursuit of realising this (SEZs) initiative, the Government has therefore identified four pilot SEZs namely Sunway City in Harare, Bulawayo industrial hub and the Victoria Falls tourism hub and the Tokwe Mukorsi.

“These will be expanded to all provinces taking into cognisance the comparative and competitive advantage of each province.”

In May this year, President Mugabe commissioned Tokwe Mukorsi Dam, which is the country’s largest inland water body after its construction was completed in December 2016. With a capacity of 1.8 billion cubic metres, the dam is expected to create thousands of jobs in both tourism and agricultural sectors.

Minister Mumbengegwi said the Government was in the process of crafting the SEZs policy, which would complement the SEZs Act and the National Investment Policy.

“The SEZs policy will provide the broader framework in which the SEZs are going to be implemented. It will among other things spell out the priority areas identified by Government for implementation under the SEZs initiative, the incentive framework that will apply under the SEZ programme, the institutional structure, implementation trajectory as well as the monitoring and evaluation framework,” he said.

The minister said the SEZ policy was also meant to bring about clarity to all investors and stakeholders on areas that were not clearly spelt out in the SEZs.

Zim-Asset and President Mugabe’s 10-Point Plan, he said, both identify investment as a key pillar for achieving the country’s growth and development goals.

“The Government in its quest for promoting investment growth has taken into account the concerns that investors have expressed over the investment environment in the country and has come up with a number of initiatives and reforms aimed at improving this environment.

“These include the ease of doing business reforms spearheaded by the Office of the President and Cabinet, promulgation of the SEZs Act in 2016, the launch of the One Stop Shop Investment Centre in 2010 in order to streamline all investment approvals and the clarification of the Indigenisation Act among other initiatives,” Minister Mumbengegwi said.

He said efforts were being furthered to make strides towards improving the investment environment for both domestic and foreign investors.

The process will involve three key focus areas, namely the National Investment Policy; SEZs Policy; and the harmonisation of investment laws.

The ministry conducted a consultation workshop in Lupane on Thursday and Friday to pave way for the implementation of Zim-Asset II. — @okazunga