Govt, business urged to work in tandem

growth can be achieved, a Government minister has said.
Addressing delegates at the International Business Conference held on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe International trade Fair last week, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Mike Bimha said business and Government are supposed to work together in matters of national concern.
“Business and Government are two entities that are inseparable. As representatives of the Government, we cannot be separated from the private sector because business will always need Government as much as the Government needs the business sector,” Mr Bimha said.
He expressed concern over what he called misconceptions that the private sector has on Government.
“I regret to say business, the private sector in particular, has some misconceptions about how Government operates. They think people in Government do not understand business and they are inadvertently referred to as very lazy.
“This is not true but only an assumption. However, even during my time in the private sector, I used to have the same view but when I got into Government I was proved wrong. The guys in Government are hard workers,” he said.
Mr Bimha said there was lack of communication between Government and the private sector, a situation that was counter-productive.
“When I was still in the private sector, I used to receive invitations to attend golf tournaments because I play the sport but now those that were inviting me have since stopped. I suspect that they no longer invite me because I am now in Government. Please keep on inviting me; I am still a golf player.
“If we interact at social levels, we will also be able to co-exist as business and Government and the economic growth we all endeavour to achieve will be reached. Let us communicate at all levels so that we do not treat each other with suspicion,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s targeted economic growth for 2011 is 9,3 percent after the country achieved an estimated growth of 8,1 percent in 2010.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Deputy Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Dr Samuel Undenge, underscored the need for business workshops where Government and the private sector officials meet and exchange notes on the economy.
“I want to applaud the National Economic Consultative Forum and the ZITF for convening a meeting of such magnitude. But one meeting is never enough, let us keep on holding such meetings so that we interrogate further topical issues that affect the country in terms of business,” he said.
Dr Undenge also urged all players involved in the economy of the country to consider the value chain as well as implement the economic policies that would have been set.
“I think as a country we are doing wonderful things for our economic stability and growth but we fall far too short of adding value to our products.”