Taurai Mangudhla
HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged support to distressed companies that are committed to supporting and developing appropriate strategies to complement Government’s quest to rebuild and grow the economy, in line with his vision for Zimbabwe to become a middle income economy, with a per capita income of $3,500 by 2030.
Launching Davipel Group’s $12 million snack manufacturing plant at Sunway City this morning, President Mnangagwa said his Government is committed to creating an enabling business environment which allows business to thrive, including maintaining an open door policy, provision of fiscal incentives and providing infrastructure.
Sunway City is one of the country’s Special Economic Zones.
Currently, President Mnangagwa said, formation of a Zimbabwe Investment and Development Authority (ZIDA) as a One Stop Investment Shop and Trade Facilitation Centre is being fast-tracked.
Government has also recently approved the setting up of an interim Investment and Trade Facilitation Committee that will offer speedy attention to investment issues.
He commended the indigenous company for grasping value addition, beneficiation and import substitution concepts.
“This will in the long term help the country to reduce its trade deficit and improve our balance of payments (BOP) as we save the much needed foreign currency” President Mnangagwa said.
“We need to value add and beneficiate our produce and desist from selling unfinished or semi-finished goods,” he added.
As the country positions itself to take advantage of regional integration, he said, companies should produce quality products that are attractive and competitive on both the local and export markets. Government has committed to allocating 1 percent of the budget to research and development.
President Mnangagwa, however, said corruption will not be tolerated.
Davipel invested $12 million in the state of the art equipment consisting of snack producing plants sourced from South Africa and Turkey as the company seeks to become a leading producer of snacks in the country.
The assembling of the plants was done by both local and foreign engineers.
Davipel is among the various companies that beneficiate from Government policies which are aimed at promoting the manufacturing sector’s growth.
