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MMCZ chairman Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa told Business Chronicle that this would further boost investment in the mining industry.
“As MMCZ we are calling for the setting up of a dedicated one-stop-shop investment centre for the mining industry. It has to be set up taking into cognisance that the mining sector is very important for Zimbabwe.
“In the past three years, mining has become the fastest growing industry,” he said.
According to official figures from the Ministry of Finance, mineral exports between 2009 and 2011 rose by 230 percent, making the industry the leading export sector. In 2012, mineral exports accounted for 47 percent of total exports, led by platinum, gold and diamonds. Ambassador Mutsvangwa said over the years the agriculture sector was viewed as Zimbabwe’s economic backbone but due to a host of factors it had been overtaken by mining.
“Although the country’s agriculture sector is doing well on the international market through tobacco exports, we are not a global class player if we are to compare the sector’s performance to mining.
“In the mining industry, we are the Kirsty Coventry of the mineral Olympics as has been substantively shown by our performance in minerals such as gold, platinum, diamond and chrome,” he said.
He said a dedicated one-stop-shop investment centre for the mining industry would go a long way in creating an optimal mining ecosystem the country deserves. He said the country should also pay attention to infrastructure development projects to promote growth of the mining sector.
“Zimbabwe has a natural advantage compared to other countries like Canada. For example, in the diamond sector, our minerals are still very much on the surface.
“As a result, we now need to reduce our production cost by investing a lot in energy and infrastructure. For the past 32 years, the country has never built a power station to promote investment and that’s why China has shown interest in investing in the energy sector in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Online Reporter