Presidential Investor’s Roundtable on cards

via Presidential Investor’s Roundtable on cards | The Herald July 4, 2015 by Lovemore Mataire

Government will soon set up a Presidential Investor’s Roundtable to promote interaction with investors to attract investment in the country. This is part of a raft of measures being undertaken by the Government to ensure the targets set under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) blueprint are achieved.

Addressing students at the Zimbabwe Defence College yesterday, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo, said joint ventures had become critical in supplementing the nation’s fiscal space and ensure the successful implementation of Zim-Asset.

“There is also contemplation on the Government side to introduce the Presidential Investor’s Roundtable which will interface with prominent investors to appreciate their views and concerns on the investment climate prevailing in the economy and also to obtain recommendations on improving the same so as to make Zimbabwe an investment destination of choice,” said Minister Khaya Moyo.

He said besides the Presidential Investor’s Roundtable, Cabinet had approved the principles for the Joint Venture Bill which was currently being reviewed by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development.

Other measures being implemented by Government to ensure the success of Zim-Asset include harnessing remittances from more than 2,2 million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.

Ambassador Khaya Moyo said there was urgent need to create a one-stop investment centre in the Zimbabwe Investment Authority to reduce bureaucracy. He said the Doing Business Committee recently completed validation of meetings which came up with a granular action plant to guide the reform agenda in the finance, legal, public and private sector. Ambassador Khaya Moyo said the mining sector, last year, contributed $1,9 billion to national exports, representing far above 53 percent of the country’s total merchandise exports and country’s total foreign exchange earnings.

“We need to take steps to benefit from the mineral sector,” he said. “Government has decided to leverage on minerals starting with chrome and extending to other minerals of high value like platinum in order to scale the prices of our minerals and to secure liquidity.”

Ambassador Khaya Moyo said companies licensed to mine and export chrome would be required to set up smelters to value add the chrome in line with Zim-Asset. He said Government was concerned with the growing informal sector.

The Minister said plans were underway to formalise the sector to ensure maximum contribution to the growth of the economy.