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President Mugabe delivers the State of the Nation Address in Parliament yesterday

Prosper Ndlovu and Nduduzo Tshuma Chronicle Reporters—
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday outlined a 10-point economic recovery plan anchored on a robust agriculture revolution and advanced value addition and beneficiation of the country’s vast natural resources. Delivering a State of the Nation Address in Parliament, the President said the plan would provide impetus for increased foreign direct investment and domestic product competitiveness.

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Revitalising the agriculture sector and its downstream processing value chain and advancing value addition and beneficiation of primary farming and mining products are key tenets of the plan.

These would be buttressed by robust infrastructural development particularly in the key energy, water, transport and ICT subsectors as well as unlocking the potential of small to medium enterprises. “The government will need to address SMEs operating infrastructure such as construction of vendor marts and factory shells and provision of human power training,” said President Mugabe.

Through mega deals that the government signed with China covering projects such as energy, roads, railways and telecommunication, water, agriculture, mining and tourism, he said, Zimbabwe was positioning itself for major economic take off in keeping with Zim-Asset which requires massive capital injection and rapid implementation.

The President said increasing private sector investment, building confidence and stability in the financial services sector, joint ventures and public private partnerships to boost the role and performance of state owned companies, were also paramount. “The government will continue to focus on instituting corrective statutory instruments including the amendments to the Banking Act which aims at the strengthening of management, supervision and surveillance of financial institutions,” said the President.

He stressed the importance of modernising labour laws, pursuing an anti-corruption thrust and implementation of special economic zones as part of measures to rejuvenate the economy. Reforming the operations of parastatals and state enterprises, harnessing Diaspora resources, re-engaging the international community, development of human capital and increasing tourism earnings are part of the broad turnaround strategy.

The strategic plan is based on the economic turnaround blueprint, Zim-Asset. As such, President Mugabe said 10 strategic state enterprises will be given urgent attention. “In each case specialised audits are to be undertaken and various reforms and turnaround strategies options are to be identified,” said the President.

Given the importance of agriculture, he added, the parastatal reform programme would begin with the Grain Marketing Board and the Cold Storage Company. In the interim, however, President Mugabe said the government has turned the spotlight on corporate governance throughout the public sector including parastatals, state enterprises and local authorities.

“It’s very clear that over many years and due to a variety of reasons, the level of compliance with good governance principles, and many if not most of our parastatals and state enterprises, has fallen well below what might be regarded as even minimally acceptable,” he blasted.

The President castigated the extravagance of remuneration packages and associated benefits, which boards and management award themselves. Such behaviour “borders on the obscene, reflecting avarice and greed instead of a commitment to serve”, which Zimbabweans expect from those appointed to such strategic positions, said the President.

On escalating labour losses following the Supreme Court ruling of July 17, 2015 which saw more than 20,000 workers being fired on three months notice, President Mugabe said the ongoing review and renewal of the Labour Act was the solution. “We must remove common law provisions that are being used by employers to unilaterally dismiss workers and sending them home empty handed,” he said.

The President stressed the need to have a law that promotes a win-win outcome for business and labour in the true spirit of smart partnership. He said the labour reforms were part of the raft of policy measures being pursued by the government to improve the ease of doing business.

President Mugabe noted modest economic growth particularly in agriculture, mining, tourism, construction and telecommunication sectors. He said the initial economic growth rate of 3,2 percent has been revised to 1,5 percent following poor agriculture output due to drought. The President said the government will resuscitate Cottco in order to restore viability in cotton farming in Zimbabwe for the benefit of more than 300,000 households who derive their livelihoods from the sector while saving jobs for many in the textile industry.

The President said as part of the government’s commitment to bringing health services to the people and improving access, 51 rural health centres have been built while 103 are under construction with 400 having been rehabilitated.

He paid tribute to China for support in provision of medical equipment through a $90 million loan facility. The package includes equipment and supplies for operating theatres, surgical, radiological, renal and dental equipment and special ambulances among other medical equipment.

President Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to treasure and safeguard the peace in the country and promote unity and spirit of hard work that Zimbabweans the world over are known for. He attributed the growth of the tourism sector to a clean peace record.

“Current interventions on marketing, relaxing the visa regime, investment in tourism and other related infrastructure and the promotion of the open skies policy should see the sector making further growth,” said President Mugabe.