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Minister Mike Bimha

Harare Bureau
INDUSTRY and Commerce Ministry officials will meet their South African counterparts as part of the ongoing dialogue over importation of goods from the neighbouring country.

The ministerial meetings will be held within the next two months following consultations with technical teams from both Zimbabwe and South Africa. South Africa is Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner.

Following the promulgation of SI-64, which limits the importation of goods that can be locally manufactured, there was hostility from neighbouring countries over the limitation in imports into the country.

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike Bimha told our Harare Bureau that deliberations were still ongoing over the matter, but maintained Government would maintain its position to protect local industry and boost the economy.

In light of this, Dr Bimha said there was no going back on implementation of the SI-64 and Government was working on other measures to support the regulatory framework such as the Local Content Policy.

“Sometime we will be going for ministerial meetings but this will be after we get reports from technical people. They have issues with us and we have issues with them as well that we all need to discuss. But we will not go back on a position we know is right especially on SI-64.

“We are still importing a lot from that side, there are raw materials we get from them and they should be grateful for that and should also allow us also to develop and manufacture things that we can produce on our own in sufficient quantities to meet local demand. That position we maintain it,” said Dr Bimha.

The SI-64 was promulgated in June last year to boost the competitiveness of local industry while promoting local consumption. Zimbabwe is, however, still importing a great deal of products from South Africa. Dr Bimha said the South African Government had accepted Zimbabwe’s position and understood it which was a major stepping stone towards establishing a consensus.

He said the private sector in South Africa was beginning to warm up to the import restrictions as investors were beginning to show interest in setting up manufacturing plants in Zimbabwe.

“But it is the private sector and industrialists complaining because they are the ones affected but some are beginning to understand it. This is the reason why some of them are now coming here to invest so that their products become local products, said Dr Bimha.

He said the development was very positive because it means jobs for locals.