CZI congress, investment forum kicks off

CZI congress, investment forum kicks off
Published: 02 August 2017
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) annual congress and international investment forum kicks off in Victoria Falls today.

The three-day event, which runs under the theme, "Growing manufacturing competitiveness: realities and realignment," will focus on offering solutions to promote industrial growth and competitiveness of local companies.

Key speakers will include Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike Bimha as well as international speakers from India, Turkey and Ethiopia among others.

The international speakers are Leather Association of Ethiopia secretary general Abdissa Adguna, Turkish African Business Councils coordinator Tamer Taskin as well as Confederation of India Industry representative Rahul Sikka.

During the congress and the international investment forum, delegates are expected to attend business to business meetings meant to promote long-term business synergies.

The business event comes at a time when the Government has embarked on a number of programmes to stimulate economic growth.

Meanwhile, the industrial representative body, CZI has reviewed downwards its 2017 capacity utilisation target to between 50 and 60 percent from the projected 65 percent largely due to a shortage of foreign currency to import critical raw materials.

CZI president Mr Sifelani Jabangwe is on record saying to achieve the targeted 60 percent capacity utilisation, the Government needs to deal with issues of corruption, policy consistency, access to cheap finance, smuggling of products restricted under Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016.

In 2016, Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector capacity utilisation stood at 47.4 percent up from 34.3 percent the previous year due to the positive impact of the import  management programme the Government put in place.

In order to control imports, the Government last year promulgated SI 64/2016, which removed several goods from the Open General Import Licence.

Through SI 64/2016,  more than 40 products were removed from OGIL and these included builders and hardware products, cooking oil, dairy products, bottled water, chicken and poultry products.
- chronicle
Tags: CZI,

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