admin
Kudzanai Gerede
CREATING an attractive country brand is critical if the country is to realise sustainable investment and exports growth, Industry and Commerce Minister Cde Mike Bimha has said.Addressing stakeholders and captains of industry at the ZimTrade annual exporters’ conference in Harare recently, Cde Bimha said: “It is important to note that the fastest-growing economies have generally used country branding as a way of facilitating trade and investment flows between them and the export markets.
“For Zimbabwe, the need for rebranding is even more demanding given the assault on the image of the country in the international media during the last 10-15 years.”
This year’s conference ran under the theme: ‘‘CREATING BRAND ZIMBABWE’’ and focused on the need for and the mechanics of achieving the creation of an effective brand for marketing the country’s manufactured goods through exports and for promoting inward investment and tourism.
Cde Bimha, who also chairs the SADC Ministers of Commerce and Industry by virtue of the country having assumed the chairmanship of the regional bloc in August, said it is an opportunity to influence regional economic activities in a manner that will facilitate the country’s national export development aspirations.
“One of the key issues that we are seized with as members of both SADC and COMESA is the enhancement of intra-regional trade. These economic blocs present market opportunities for Zimbabwean products but, however, present challenges in that if we are not able to produce and export goods into the region, we will remain a net importer of goods from other countries”, said the minister.
According to the Monetary Policy Statement released by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently, the country exported $1.228 billion of merchandise (manufactured goods), but imported $3 billion merchandise as at June 30 resulting in a $1.768 billion negative trade balance which analysts point to as the major reason behind the country’s liquidity challenges.
A special advisory committee set up by Government recently revealed that the country could save $2 billion annually by reducing the importation of 40 percent of products coming into the country despite existing capacity to produce them locally.
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Engineer Walter Mzembi also stressed the importance of a country brand and cleared confusion over the Zimbabwe World of Wonders brand which is a tourism brand and not a national brand.
“It is because of this fact regarding the country of origin effect that some countries coin for their advertising, campaign phrases like Malaysia, Truly Asia, or Incredible India, or Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa. It is all a bid to differentiate their countries, imbue them with qualities of attractiveness, worth of special attention”, he said.
Online Reporter