adminBlessing Bonga Business Reporter
The European Union last week availed a US$4,1 million grant to Zimbabwe that will go towards improving trade performance and development of the private sector in the country under the Trade and Private Sector Development Project. The project funding will run for a period of two and-a-half years beginning this month under the supervision of the International Trade Centre.
Addressing delegates during the official launch of TPSDP in Harare last week, EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe Ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia said the project recognises the need to enhance trade relations while supporting the private sector which is critical to the country’s development.
“The EU is convinced that the enhancement of the trade relations and the support to the private sector in particular the small and medium enterprises are essential for job creation, poverty reduction and contribution to the overall development of the country.”
“This project is therefore framed on what have been the guidelines of our co-operation with Zimbabwe in this field which is really to support the private sector in the country to have the best possible access to the European market and take the best possible advantage from the economic partnership agreement that permits Zimbabwean exporters to access the European market without quota and without taxes,” he said.
Ambassador Dell’Ariccia said TPSDP is perfectly framing the national policy that they have been working on together with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other stakeholders in designing so that a boost in the exports of Zimbabwe to EU and an improvement in the returns from these is realised.
The has been a lull of Zimbabwean exports to European Union countries due in part to the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the EU, United States and their allies.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha commended the gesture by the EU which he said would help Zimbabwe in capacitating the private sector in order to meaningfully contribute to revival of the economy which has been on a downfall but slowly recovering.
“The project comes as we seek to capacitate the private sector and Government’s efforts to revive the economy while also strengthening capacity of all economic players in the implementation of the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) which we signed with the EU in August of 2009,” he said.
The iEPA is a caretaker agreement that meant to take care of trade relations between the two parties while negotiations towards the full EPA continue, and under the regime the country now enjoys duty free and quota free market access to the EU for commodities that include tobacco and horticultural products.
Minister Bimha said the funding is also intended to capacitate business organisations that are critical to the growth of the economy that include Zimtrade, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
He added that apart from TPSDP there is likely going to be a further US$7,1 million in the pipeline that includes about US$1,3 million meant to support the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement and another US$5,8 million from the Regional Fund to support regional integration and development.
Online Reporter