Chronicle Editor
ZITF presents an opportunity for local and international businesses to showcase their products, innovations and services.
For years, the fair has served as a platform for networking, forging trade agreements and identifying market opportunities, among other activities aimed at enhancing economic growth and livelihoods.
However, the extent to which it has impacted the economy in terms of investment and employment generation is debatable, and there is a growing need to ensure that the event delivers tangible results rather than being a mere annual ritual.
Our country has been grappling with an economic downturn for the better part of the past two decades and ZITF should be more than just a platform for businesses to display products and exchange pleasantries.
It should be a catalyst for lighting the flame of economic recovery and growth, especially considering the country’s potential in various sectors such as agriculture, mining, energy and tourism.
Thus, the focus should be on stimulating investments that translate into increased production, exports and job creation.
One key challenge our economy has been facing for some time is a lack of significant investments, which can be attributed to a host of factors, including lack of financing.
ZITF presents an opportunity to address these challenges by creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. To achieve this, the Government should prioritise addressing the underlying causes of economic instability for investment and business growth.
By promoting small and medium enterprises, the Government can create jobs and improve the ease of doing business. For foreign investors attending the fair, the Government should offer incentives, such as tax holidays, duty-free imports and other forms of support to encourage investments.
In addition to investments, ZITF should also be used as a platform for resuscitating industries that have been under-performing or have closed down altogether due to various challenges such as the unavailability of foreign currency, high cost of production and a shortage of raw materials.
It must offer a platform for identifying ways to revive these industries and attract new ones. This means that it should provide an opportunity for investors in these sectors to meet with various stakeholders, including Government officials, industry players and potential customers, to discuss the challenges facing industry and come up with solutions.
Another critical aspect that ZITF should help address is job creation. Our country has a high unemployment rate, with informal employment being the most common source of livelihood for our people. Therefore, the trade fair should offer an opportunity to showcase the potential that Zimbabwe has in creating formal, decent jobs in various sectors. By providing a platform for businesses and investors to explore opportunities, forge partnerships and identify market gaps, the trade fair can translate into actual job creation soon after the event.
It’s important to ensure that ZITF is more than just a routine annual event and becomes a platform for stimulating investment and economic growth.
The fair should provide an opportunity for businesses, industry players, Government officials and investors to identify challenges and come up with solutions that translate into tangible outcomes, including increased investment, economic activity, industrial growth and employment creation.
By leveraging the potential of sectors that our country has a comparative advantage and addressing the challenges affecting them, ZITF can be significant to the country’s economic turnaround, and to achieve an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Online Reporter