THE Government has called on the private sector to create strategic partnerships with institutions of higher learning so that they can assist each other in coming up with local ideas and solutions to industrial challenges in pursuit of national economic growth.
The call comes amid support from UN agencies that have pledged to stand with Zimbabwe in its industrialisation and economic development agenda as the country’s re-engagement policy comes to fruition.
Speaking at the official opening of a validation workshop aimed at promoting the utilisation of domestic resources as inputs along value chains in order to achieve the objectives of increasing average local content levels, Minister of Industry and Commerce Dr Sekai Nzenza said Government was looking at increasing capacity utilisation and manufactured exports in prioritised sectors.
“This strategy (local content) is aimed at promoting the utilisation of domestic resources as inputs along value chains, thereby achieving the objectives of increasing average local content levels, capacity utilisation, and manufactured exports in prioritised sectors,” she said.
She added that the Government had also put in place innovation hubs to nurture and develop local ideas and solutions to industrial challenges and encouraged the private sector to partner with institutions of higher learning in the country and assist them to overcome the challenges impeding progress and develop local solutions to the challenges in the industry.
The workshop had a particular bias on the development of the local content thresholds focusing on strategic manufacturing areas of fertiliser, packaging, and the pharmaceutical sub-sectors.
Speaking at the same meeting, Mr Tichaona Mushayandebvu, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) country representative who was standing in for the United Nations (UN) resident co-ordinator (Zimbabwe), Mr Edward Kallon said UNIDO intended to closely collaborate with UNECA, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), ITC and other specialised UN economic agencies to support Zimbabwe’s industrialisation, economic growth and competitiveness agenda.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) representative Mr Victor Bhoroma said there was massive potential for local content production in various sectors.
“There is massive potential for local content development starting with the production of intermediate raw materials which include plant-based compounds, caustic soda, hydraulic acid and additives that are major inputs in drug manufacturing,” said Mr Bhoroma.
UNECA sub-regional office for Southern Africa which is supporting the industrialisation agenda in Zimbabwe and other Southern African regional member States also weighed in emphasising the focus on inclusive industrialisation by the office.
“We are committed to supporting industrialisation which leaves no place and no gender behind, allowing stakeholders to move together in an industrialised environment where the country is able to produce products that will facilitate the exploitation of the market created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement,” said Mr Oliver Maponga of UNECA, SRO-SA.
The workshop was convened by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce with technical support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). – Sunday News
