‘Byo industry revival vital’
THE revival of Bulawayo industries is critical towards achieving national economic growth targets under the Government’s new blue-print, the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister, Raji Modi, has said.
Speaking at the launch of a South African company, Nedlac Automation in Bulawayo on Friday night where he was the guest of honour, the Deputy Minister said fast-track measures were being implemented to guarantee robust industry revival and increased private sector participation towards meeting an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“Resuscitation of industry in Bulawayo remains a vital cog in the implementation of Transitional Stabilisation Programme. Further to that, our recent budget has set aside $20 million to be advanced to industries with the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe having been allocated $30 million,” he said.
“Government is also expected to fasttrack the ease of doing business so that we contribute as industry to a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030.”
Nedlac Automation is a engineering company headquartered in South African. The firm opened shop in Bulawayo in September and has so far invested about $1,5 million into the economy.
Deputy Minister Modi said the investment shows great confidence in Zimbabwe’s economy and the gesture was commendable as it generates employment along the various value chains in line with the country’s vision.
“Nedlac is a major supplier of critical spares and raw materials to major reputable manufacturing companies and mining houses. The company brings immense contribution to the country’s economic growth and job creation as it cuts down on unnecessary costs as a result of lead time,” he said.
Deputy Minister Modi said his ministry was at an advanced stage of finalising the Zimbabwe National Industrialisation Policy Framework that will buttress the agenda on industrialisation. He noted that Zimbabwe used to have a vibrant engineering sector that supplied different industrial components.
“It is unfortunate that most of the players have closed down and the few still existing are operating at low capacity,” said the Deputy Minister.
Earlier in his address, Nedlac Automation business development executive Mr Prince Abraham said mining and industry were vital economic handles for economic growth and thus his firm had seen it fit to supply the two sectors with spares and consumables that would allow them to continue operating.
“Our job is to keep your operations on line even after major breakdowns to ensure that we help Zimbabwe achieve vision 2030 by supplying you with mining and industrial spares to eliminate unwanted down time. The value of a well-thought out spare system industry and mining can’t be overstated or for production to continue uninterrupted and for Zimbabwe to grow, we can’t afford to have our machines shut down because of lack of spares,” he said.
Mr Abraham said lack of spares by companies has adverse effects to business operations as it results in high costs and firms have to bear the burden of paying idle employees who have no machine to run.