adminThe exercise falls in line with Government plans to underpin the economic growth Medium Term Plan on foreign direct investment. The investment handbook is being compiled with support from the United Nations Development Programme.
Secretary for Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Dr Desire Sibanda said the MTP targeted foreign investment of 25 percent of gross domestic product during its five-year term (2011-2015).
“It will provide useful information to potential investors at a glance, and will assist the ministry’s drive on investment promotion and hence the implementation of the MTP,” Dr Sibanda said.
The investor guide for Zimbabwe comes at an opportune time where Government is committed to improving the ease of doing business. The FDI platform is very competitive and an investor guide is a very useful tool in attracting the much needed foreign direct investment.
Against this background, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion held a validation workshop of the investment opportunities in Harare last Friday.
The workshop was attended by many people from all departments and institutions dealing with investment promotion in Zimbabwe. Dr Sibanda said MTP marked the return to development planning in Zimbabwe after a long period of challenges characterised by economic sanctions and limited funding.
There was also lack of investment policy guidelines to chart the economic trajectory of the nation forward. Consequently, Zimbabwe lost about 45 percent of its GDP between 1998 and 2008.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been recovering over the past few years but this information has not reached domestic and international investors. As such, there is need to come up with an investor guide to explain economic opportunities in the country.
The Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion has, however, been working hard to explain the Zimbabwe’s story of economic recovery to Africa and the international community. Dr Sibanda said such efforts have improved the investment climate in Zimbabwe and had also attracted more investors.
The major step was the launch of the MTP: 2011 – 2015, the MTP set investment targets of 25 percent of GDP, single-digit inflation, economic growth of over 7 percent per annum and prioritised achievements of the Millennium Development Goals.
Online Reporter