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Business Reporter

BUY Zimbabwe has this year introduced the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Exporter  Award at this year’s Buy Zimbabwe Awards slated for next month in Harare.

In a statement, Buy Zimbabwe public relations and communications executive, Mr Tapiwa Ziwewe, said the SMEs Exporter Award seeks to honour and celebrate SMEs who are into export business and have contributed to the growth of the local industry. 

“Buy Zimbabwe has this year introduced the SMEs Exporter Award for this year’s edition of the Buy Zimbabwe scheduled for December 13, 2019 at Robbie Mupawose Centre, Business Hub in Harare.

“Since SMEs are now the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy, it’s inevitable to recognise them at such big events like the Buy Zimbabwe Awards,” he said. 

Mr Ziwewe said it was in this vein that Buy Zimbabwe was urging all registered SMEs to venture into export business and avoid relying on the domestic market as this may limit their chances of growth.

He noted that SMEs have a huge impact on the overall economy and industrial sector. 

“If SMEs explore various export markets, this ensures that there is more productivity as there will be more demand hence a lot of people will be employed, more infrastructural development as more factories will be opened and more foreign currency generation. 

“SMEs can also get new skills and techniques from trading internationally. 

“Getting involved in export business, SMEs learn techniques that increase their productivity, efficiency, and/or output quality and they will absorb and implement knowledge that allows them to satisfy demanding buyers,” said Mr Ziwewe. 

This year’s Buy Zimbabwe Awards will be held under the theme: “Building Excellent Local Brands: Unlocking Global Markets”. 

He said this year’s event will be a double package as topline research solutions would unpack research findings on “Market Perceptions towards Local Products: A 2019 status report on Consumers, Retailers, Government and Industry”. 

Buy Zimbabwe is a social enterprise at the forefront of advocating for a more viable, inclusive, sustainable and internally acceptable industry support system based on incentives for increased value chain based local procurement and disincentives for the continued importation of finished products and services. 

The company’s mandate is to promote, deepen and broaden the utilisation of locally sourced and produced resources to yield quality and globally competitive Zimbabwean brands for sustainable economic growth.