North-West Chamber wants DRC exports boosted

THE Chamber of Commerce and Industry in North-Western Province has welcomed the call by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to speed up the implementation of trade agreements with Zambia.

Chamber president, Mukumbi Kafuta, noted that implementing the trade agreements would help reduce trade barriers in terms of the flow of goods and services.

Mr Kafuta said the trade agreements would encourage Investment in the manufacturing, agriculture, and agro processing sectors, thereby creating a strong export base for Zambia.

He observed that there was need to critically investigate the failure of Zambian firms to penetrate the Congolese market despite the endless trade opportunities that existed in that vast neighbouring country.

“The truth is, there are bottlenecks that need to be removed, and the sooner we do that the better for our economy. And that is why recently as a chamber, we undertook a trade mission to DRC in Lubumbashi, where a number of companies we’re in attendance, and our objectives were well thought out,” he said.

Mr Kafuta said the chamber was desirous to see aggression and urgency by Zambian companies, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to export their goods and services.

He however indicated that trade missions would be of no value if the bottlenecks that hindered trade between the two countries were not addressed.

He said enhanced exports were among the strategies in the Economic Recovery Programme

(ERP) which was recently launched by President Edgar Lungu, hence the need for the chamber to be in the forefront to implement trade agreements between Zambia and the DRC.