Focus on value added products, exporters told DUBAI

- Zimbabwean com- panies should now focus on exporting value added products to augument min- eral and raw products that are largely being exported currently, Zimtrade board chairperson Clara Mlambo has said.

While Zimbabwe has been growing its exports over the years, they are biased towards mineral and primary prod- ucts.

But according to Mlambo Zimbabwe has a comparative advantage in the production of a number of products and should focus on those in export drive.

Mlambo metioned hor- ticulture products, tobacco products as well as exotic leather and leather products as some of the products that Zimbabwean companies can focus on exporting.

Speaking at a Zimtrade organised outward seller mis- sion currently taking place here in Dubai, Mlambo said once Zimbabwean horti- culture exporters penetrate the Dubai market, they have high chances of spreading to other United Arab Emirates its countries.

“As Zimtrade, we are cog- nizant of the fact that UAE is strategically located between the East and West, which makes it accessible to emerging economies in the Gulf region, linking shipping routes and fa- cilitating goods movement be- tween the different regions in Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa,” Mlambo said.

She also highlighted that without production in terms of horticulture, the UAE is becoming a major supplier of horticulture into the Gulf Cooperation Council countries through the concept of re-ex- ports.

“What this reflects is that our Zimbabwean exporters who are able to create solid mar- kets in Dubai will likely find it easy to use UAE as a gateway to land their products in other markets in the Middle East,” she said. – THE HERALD.