via Govt to rebrand NIPC | The Herald March 5, 2015
The Cabinet of Zimbabwe has approved the setting up of a National Competitiveness Commission tasked to identify areas of concern and cost drivers within the economy, a senior Government official said.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha yesterday told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce that the doctrine of the proposed institution will be presented next week.
Minister Bimha was giving oral evidence to the committee on the progress made towards implementation of the Cabinet decision on measures to enhance competitiveness of the local industry.
He said Government is not going to set up a completely new institution but will rebrand the existing National Incomes and Price Commission into the National Competitiveness Commission.
“There must be an entity which will continuously look for cost drivers and be able to make recommendations for the country’s investment climate to be competitive. We are going to rebrand what used to be the National Incomes and Price Commission to the National Competitiveness Commission,” said Minister Bimha.
“There is need to amend first the Act that used to govern the NIPC and we have already engaged a team of lawyers to look into the Act after which it will then be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Office.”
Minister Bimha said Cabinet had already approved the recommendation and expressed optimism that there must be a way of bringing all ministries together while ensuring an effective implementation of all national projects. Cabinet has set up an inter-ministerial committee chaired by Minister Bimha and is supposed to be a standing committee within the cabinet.
Minister Bimha said at the moment, his ministry would be at the forefront of driving the implementation of the measures approved by Cabinet.
“On Tuesday I will present the principles of the NCC, which the Attorney-General will go through. The National Incomes and Pricing Commission (will do likewise) and after that the Act will then be presented in the House of Assembly. The NIPC is a statutory body through the National Incomes and Price Commission Act [Chapter 14:32], and therefore the rebranding will require an amendment of that law,” said Minister Bimha.
He said the rebranding of NIPC is one of the key measures to improve competitiveness that Cabinet has since approved.
“This issue of cost drivers is not a once off thing, tomorrow we could see cost drivers different from the ones we have might have presented today.
The new body will be responsible for reviewing all new Government business regulations and repealing archaic and restrictive regulations on an ongoing basis.
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