‘NORTHWEST EXPO EYE-OPENER’

THE North West Expo Zambia coming up in August this year will present a great opportunity to market investment opportunities in the 11 districts, the North Western Chamber of Commerce and Industry has observed.

Chamber president Mukumbi Kafuta told the Daily Nation in an interview that there was need to ensure that preparatory work was done adequately for the showpiece to be a success.

He said the expo would help Government to come up with a resilient economy in line with the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) and actualise the vision 2030 of making Zambia a middle income country.

Mr Kafuta said however that there would be need for Government to provide an enabling environment through favourable tax structures and investment incentives favouring both local and foreign investors.

He added that stable investment policies that would boost investor confidence.

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), he said, would have to scale up operations and adequately participate in symposiums to explain the investment climate and incentives in order to boost investor motivation.

Mr Kafuta said the North Western Chamber of Commerce would organise the business sector in the province and facilitating business and investment profiling. He said the chamber would also prepare Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) for business partnerships with would-be investors through a match-making exercise.

"And as part of the preparations, the chamber will be hosting a Financial Services Expo in April this year where all the banks will interact with SMEs to learn about financing packages available. They will be sensitised on how best to access finances for investment.

"This is a mini expo that we are using as a preparatory platform for the main expo," Mr Kafuta said.

Mr Kafuta said if the expo was to be different from those held in other regions, the level of preparations should be different with a lot of focus on local SMEs actively participating in major investments.

He stated that there would be need for Government and the chamber to strategically market the expo to foreign investors to attract major foreign companies to the province.

"Our aim should be that every district receives huge investment pledges if we're to see massive economic activities taking place in the province. And what we do between now and July will determine the success of the Expo in August," he added.

The North West expo will be held under the theme, "unveiling hidden treasures."