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Agriculture, mining and tourism drove the growth against the backdrop of illegal Western sanctions, a fragile global economy, negligible external support and the negative effect of climate change on agriculture, he said.
President Mugabe made the remarks in his address on the occasion of Zimbabwe’s 33rd Independence Day celebrations held at the National Sports Stadium in Harare last Thursday.
He pointed out that the country’s fourth successive economic growth was ample evidence, to Western critics of its policies, that “we have the resources in our land to lift our nation to greater heights”.
“It is pleasing to note that our economy has remained resilient on a positive growth path, registering an estimated 4,4 percent growth rate in the past year (9,3 percent in 2011),” the President said.
The President said the country has relied on domestic resources to address infrastructure bottlenecks such as shortage of spare parts for industry, repair of vandalised installations and the erratic electricity and water supplies amid isolation by Western countries and related funding institutions.
Against this background, President Mugabe said, Government was aware of the liquidity crunch facing the country and would take appropriate measures to ensure that the matter is fully addressed.
He said that the land reform programme, for which Zimbabwe has been vilified, testified today to a palpable improvement in the livelihoods of Zimbabweans who benefited from the programme.
Last year, agriculture grew by 4,6 percent led by tobacco, cotton and sugar with the golden leaf accounting for 10,7 percent of gross domestic product and is seen increasing its contribution to GDP.
Expected increased tobacco contribution to economic growth stems from the fact that registration of farmers taking to tobacco growing almost doubled from 35 749 in 2011 to 66 245 in 2012.
But Government is unhappy with the price situation in cotton market and expects sanity in this sector as “it provides strategic industrial raw material for our clothes and production of edible oils stockfeeds”.
President Mugabe said that Government’s primary focus in the manufacturing industry was to increase value addition and promote trade relations within bilateral, regional and international frameworks.
“In this regard, Government has been promoting enhanced value of primary products in all sectors in order to restore the manufacturing sector’s production capacity, increase output and hence the availability of commodities for both the domestic and export markets,” the President said.
He also said in a sign of confidence in Zimbabwe and Zambia the neighbouring countries won the bid to co-host the 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly next August.
The President called on the nation to support preparations for the iconic event as it had potential to increase opportunities for new investment, employment creation and income generation.
Through aggressive destination marketing Zimbabwe has witnessed renewed interest from regional and international airlines such as KLM Dutch Airlines, Mozambican Airlines, Emirates and Air Namibia. Improved air access would increase capacity and promote Zimbabwe as a tourist destination.
As part of measures to alleviate poverty, President Mugabe said, 59 Community Share Ownership Trusts have been registered across the country to develop the areas in line with their priorities.
Recognising the importance of micro, small and medium enterprises in supporting livelihoods, the President said Government disbursed US$1,022 million to support them, sustaining 1 205 jobs.
To improve their operational environment a total of 5 846 MSMEs were relocated to factory shells.
Online Reporter