FOREIGN INVESTMENT SAFE - ZDA
THE Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has assured investors that their investment is safe and protected by the law. ZDA board chairperson, Fisho Mwale, regretted that some lives had been lost and that there were reports of Zambian workers being subjected to harsh conditions of service. A few days ago, three Chinese nationals were killed and their bodies burnt in a factory in Makeni area in Lusaka after a dispute with workers over payment while on the Copperbelt and other areas some workers were reported to have been forced into quarantine. But Mr Mwale yesterday said ZDA was fully aware of the important role investors played in the country’s economic growth and job creation. He however indicated that investors should adhere to the laws that govern how businesses should be run. Mr Mwale said it was a fact that Zambia needed foreign direct investment (FDI) as it directly contributed to expanding investment and tax base in the country. FDI, he said, was key in addressing the problem of unemployment through the creation of new job opportunities and the introduction of advanced technology. Mr Mwale assured investors and businesses that their investments were safe and protected by the laws of the land. “It is pertinent to recognise that the peace, rule of law and the political will that the country enjoys is one of the major attributes that makes Zambia the best investment destination of choice in the sub region and therefore it is important that we recognise the need to preserve it at all cost. “Zambia is enjoying very cordial and warm relations with most countries and as such has attracted major investments from those countries in keys sectors of the economy,” Mr Mwale said. He said Zambia needed to manage its due process in the dispensation of the law, without jeopardising good standing with the investor community. Mr Mwale said this must be done while investors adhered to the laws obtaining in this country for the mutual benefit of all parties involved.