Khaya Moyo on economic growth policies

GOVERNMENT must adopt an inclusive approach in policy formulation to come up with policies that can induce sustainable economic growth and development in the country, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Minister of Policy Co-ordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures in the Office of the President Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo said it was imperative to come up with cogent policies that recognised the ever-growing turbulence and risks that affect the world economy.

He was speaking while officially opening the Zimbabwe Economic Review Conference in Harare.

Minister Khaya Moyo said the private sector should work with Government as it tried to improve the economy.

“Zimbabwe is competing with other regional countries to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” he said. “Out of some introspection, it was agreed that there is an urgent need to create a conducive investment climate.

“This presupposed coming up with policies to facilitate the same. The Zimbabwe Investment Authority was transformed into a One-Stop Investment Centre, where all agencies which had a role to play in investment provision were housed under one roof.

“While there was improvement in attracting investment, we still fell short compared to our competitors.” and National Competitiveness

The theme of the conference was “Managing Risks, Fostering Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.”

Minister Khaya Moyo said to boost productivity, Government, in consultation with the private sector, established Special Economic Zones that would see an increase in FDI inflows.

He said there would also be increased technological acquisition, employment creation, export generation and increased foreign currency generation.

Government, he said, was working flat out to seek resources with which to pay off arrears to the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

Arrears with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have already been settled.

“Settlement of arrears will bode well for us because this will pave way for our country to access concessionary funding, as well as pave way for us to get budgetary and balance of payments support,” said Minister Khaya Moyo.

“Futhermore, this move could see our country risk being reduced substantially. Ease of Doing Business reforms have gathered momentum. The essence of this exercise is to reduce the cost of production, economy-wide.

“This will also have a bearing on improving competitiveness in our economy with attendant benefits.”

Minister Khaya Moyo said despite challenges the country faced such as low employment levels, low exports, informalised economy, antiquated equipment, it had the strength of a diversified resource base, a workaholic labour force and a relatively developed infrastructural base.