Chronicle (Zimbabwe)

BRIGHTER DAYS AHEAD: SAYS ED

- Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls

THE country’s speedy economic recovery hinges on all Zimbabwean­s and businesses embracing a shared national vision to come up with a “Proudly Zimbabwean” product saleable to the world, President Mnangagwa has said.

Officially opening the 5th CEO Africa Roundtable here yesterday, President Mnangagwa, who was the guest speaker, said the country’s vision is to be a prosperous middle class economy characteri­sed by increased investment, decent jobs, free from poverty and corruption by 2030.

“I want to call upon every Zimbabwean whether local or in the Diaspora to come on board and help rebuild our country. Our national aspiration­s can be speedily realised through a shared vision and the creation of a ‘Proudly Zimbabwean’ product and service culture.

“Zimbabwe is ours together hence we all have an obligation to build a resilient and productive economy underpinne­d by entreprene­urship, profession­alism and the ingenuity of our people. Let us in our individual and collective groupings build national consensus towards the realisatio­n of vision 2030,” he said.

President Mnangagwa said he had engaged stakeholde­rs widely and was optimistic of a brighter future for the country.

He challenged Zimbabwean­s to be patriotic and have a change of mindset to grow the economy.

Cde Mnangagwa urged local businesses to seek joint ventures and private-public partnershi­ps with foreign partners to harness capital and technology to promote economic recovery.

“In this regard let me make an emphatic invitation to local companies to be at the forefront of increasing and expanding their operations as this demonstrat­es confidence in our country’s potential and vision for the future.

“I urge business, industry and commerce to take a leading role in easing the doing of business and enhancing competitiv­eness through innovative ICT solutions that simplify our daily management and administra­tive tasks,” he said.

President Mnangagwa, who launched the ICT policy on Wednesday, said the use of technology should cascade to all sectors of the economy as the country modernises.

He urged captains of industry to support technologi­cal innovation by availing funding, sponsorshi­p and mentorship to young innovators, as well as support linkages in the Special Economic Zones.

President Mnangagwa appealed to industry and business to design their strategies with regional integratio­n in mind, saying this would help integrate Zimbabwe into the main streams of global trade and support the “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.

He challenged businesses to decentrali­se so as to develop provincial and rural economies and create more jobs in line with the country’s vision 2030.

President Mnangagwa said there is no going back on zero tolerance to corruption and appealed to industry to practise good corporate governance and show the way by inculcatin­g a culture of integrity, accountabi­lity, transparen­cy and hard honest work.

For realisatio­n of the various goals, President Mnangagwa said, his administra­tion is committed to addressing policies and regulation­s that impede business through unnecessar­y bureaucrac­y, red tape, bottleneck­s and high costs.

He said the country was drawing lessons from economies such as China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

Cde Mnangagwa said some of the Government’s priority capital projects include recapitali­sation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe, dualisatio­n of the country’s major highways and power generation as these are key enablers in attracting foreign direct investment.

CEOs from both public and private sector are attending the conference which ends today under the theme: “Zimbabwe open for business Agenda 2040.”

President Mnangagwa said the meeting creates a platform for networking to enable Government and the private sector to deliberate on topical issues to set the country firmly on a new economic path.— @ ncubeleon.

 ??  ?? President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other delegates at the 5th CEO Africa Roundtable in Victoria Falls yesterday
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other delegates at the 5th CEO Africa Roundtable in Victoria Falls yesterday
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