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Sikhulekelani Moyo, [email protected]

CONFEDERATION of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) on Tuesday met with some stakeholders to review Special Economic Zone (SEZs) policies, regulations and incentives accruing to local investors.

ZIDA is the Government’s investment promotion agency, responsible for facilitating domestic and foreign investment in the country.

Zida offers incentives to investors and undertakes all that makes Zimbabwe a safe investment destination.

The investment body recently gave owners of areas designated as SEZs including in Bulawayo up to May 14 to institute the process of appointing developers and operators of their respective SEZs as it seeks to speed up the operationalisation process.

On its LinkedIn account, CZI said they are exploring the current state of SEZ and is working with the investment promotion body to accelerate investment, industrialisation and economic growth.

A special economic zone is an area in a country that is subject to unique economic regulations that differ from other areas in the same country as its regulations tend to be conducive to attracting foreign direct investment.

“Today we met with ZIDA and some of our members to review the SEZ policies, regulations and the incentives accruing to local investors. We explored the current state of SEZ and we will be working together to rethink SEZs as an accelerator of investment, industrialisation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the face of emerging imperatives like, African Continental Free Trade Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), climate transition, industrialisation, industry 4.0 and the global race that these place our economy in,” it said.

“A collaborative approach in understanding the aspirations of business, the opportunities that exist and how policy can enable the realisation of these for the economy is how we are operationalising the Memorandum of Understanding we have signed with ZIDA.”

Last year, CZI and ZIDA signed a collaboration agreement on working together in areas of ease of doing business, investment opportunities, investor-related services, and the creation of value chains.

It is in this background that the two bodies continue to work together exploring possibilities to promote industrialisation and investment in the country all in a bid to scale up economic growth.

CZI said the National Competitiveness Commission Zimbabwe (NCCZ) also participated in the dialogue.

“We also brought into focus the SMEs and startups who are an important part of the business ecosystem in Zimbabwe. We are looking forward to producing evidence-based policy proposals,” said CZI.

In recent years, Zimbabwe has witnessed a steady increase in Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Direct Investment – a large number of them passing through ZIDA.

The investments span various sectors, including agriculture, mining, tourism, and manufacturing, highlighting our country’s diverse opportunities. The portal has immense potential to create a faster and much easier route for an Investor in any part of the world to access Zimbabwe’s investment opportunities.

It recently launched its electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) licensing portal, fulfilling its commitment to streamline the investment licensing process and improve the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe.

Last year, CZI said it was working on renewing linkages with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a view of incorporating the sector in its programmes as it seeks to create synergies and expose the sector to more markets.

SMEs have become a big economic force in the country and across the globe but most of them are still struggling to secure lucrative markets.

In Zimbabwe, the Government expects SMEs to play a pivotal role in transforming the economy towards an upper middle-income status by 2030.

This entails scaling up support for the sector by providing finance and working space to enable the sector to increase the production of quality goods and assist the sector in securing markets.

It is for this reason that the Government under the Second Republic recognises the role played by the sector and availed resources to upscale its growth.

 

 

@SikhulekelaniM1