TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has embarked on an assessment of Bulawayo industries to gather information on the challenges they face and map the way forward to address the situation.
The four-day assessment started on Tuesday this week.
The tour comes following closure and relocation of companies in the last decade due to a worsening economic condition.
Industry and Commerce deputy minister, Raj Modi, who spoke during the tour of Mealie Brand and Machtec Engineering and Supplies, said government was trying to bring Bulawayo industries back to the former glory.
“This tour is very important for Bulawayo and the country as a whole because the government is trying to resuscitate the industries. As you know Bulawayo was an industrial hub, so government is trying to bring back industries in the city to its former glory that we had in the 80s.
“So that is why it is important to go and visit our industries, talk to them personally and find out the challenges which they are facing,” he said.
Modi promised that the government was working to resolve challenges companies encounter at the forex auction system. It is taking close to a month for companies to access the foreign currency allotted to them.
“(Companies) are saying they are not getting it (forex) on time. So, we will look into it. We will talk to the relevant authority,” he said.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mavis Sibanda said the government was committed to supporting industry and has tasked the ministry to “work hard, to work with the industry, hear their problems and support them as much as possible”.
“According to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), we are supposed to be looking at the value chains and Bulawayo has quite a number of them. We are also looking at the retooling of the industry so the ministry is heading that component in the NDS1. We want the industry to know that we are there for them,” Sibanda said.
