Govt prioritising foreign investment to develop the economy
Government is prioritising foreign direct investment (FDI) in order to mobilise the huge resources that are required to develop the different sectors of the economy, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Industry and Commerce Minister, Dr Sekai Nzenza, made the remarks in a speech read
on her behalf during the official opening of the inaugural Zimbabwe Institutional Investor Forum which MN Capital held in the capital on Wednesday.
Investors including those in the insurance and pensions business are attending the two-day indaba, which is running under the theme “Rethinking Investment Returns in the New Normal – Investing for Impact”.
Dr Nzenza said the Government had taken steps to attract investment through the engagement and re-engagement policy while also pursuing economic policies aimed at increasing foreign direct investment.
“I am glad that this forum was conceptualised and designed for the institutional investment community. This sector is very important to us as a government, what we know for sure is that institutional investors have greater influence and impact on the market in companies they invest in.
“Furthermore, we also know as a government that institutional investors do professional research and are known to improve and promote management applicability. As government we take pride in forming strategic partnership with the private sector, especially doing everything possible to make sure that the course of capital is manageable for both our small and medium enterprises and large corporates in an effort to drive economic transformation,” she said.
She said Zimbabwe was endowed with abundant natural resources which could be leveraged on in order to realize the vision of attaining a prosperous and empowered upper middle-class economy by 2030.
“In order to attain this, the Government has put in place a mid-term economic blueprint the National Development Strategy 1, which is covering the period 2021 -2025.
“The intention is to commit resources towards building the capacity of key institutions that play a critical role in providing an enabling environment for private sector investment,” she said.
She added that the national economic blueprint also recognises that investment in value addition transforms the country’s economic structure from one that is highly dependent on the exports of raw and other agricultural materials to economy trading in high value processed goods.
Dr Nzenza said in addition to complementing government efforts, the forum will also go a long way in opening new avenues in the quest to attain national aspirations.
MN Capital Group Chief operations officer Nhlakanipho Mkhwanazi said Zimbabwe was well resourced and deserved to be at the international business stage to negotiate deals from a position of power and not as a beggar.
He added that the Second Republic through the ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ mantra has created an enabling environment for businesses to operate in the country which should be taken advantage of.
New Ziana
