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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Government has lined up an aggressive international marketing campaign for 2017 as it moves to attract increased foreign direct investment as part of efforts to rejuvenate the economy.
Macro Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Dr Obert Mpofu said his ministry targets to uplift the country’s investment inflows to 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a key indicator of economic growth.
Zimbabwe’s GDP hovers around $14 billion.
To achieve the set target, he said his ministry has adopted Government’s Rapid Result Initiative (RRI) for the implementation of Zim-Asset.
Official figures from the United Nations world investment report show that the country’s FDI declined by 23 percent last year to $421 million.
In 2014, FDI to Zimbabwe peaked at $545 million driven by interests in mining and energy sectors.
“As the ministry responsible for investment promotion, the year 2017 will mark a paradigm shift in our approach to investment promotion as we employ the RRI to aggressively market the vast investment opportunities obtaining in the country,” he said.
“The target is to uplift the country’s investment inflows to levels that compare favourably to those of our regional counterparts. The target is to achieve an investment level of 25 percent of (GDP).
“In this regard, the ministry has lined up investment road shows to Zimbabwe’s major investment source markets as well as the BRICS (Brazil Russia India China and South Africa) countries.”
Dr Mpofu said the promulgation of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Act in October this year had marked a new era on the investment arena that shall witness the country receiving tripled investment inflows starting next year.
He noted that most of the BRICS countries rose to their current investment levels because of the implementation of SEZs in their countries.
“Zimbabwe’s SEZs shall be broadly modelled along product specific, geographical area and industry specific SEZs. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has already gazetted some of the fiscal incentives that will apply in SEZs. This shows Government’s commitment to the implementation of SEZs,” said Dr Mpofu.
He said his ministry was also planning to roll out the SEZs concept to all provinces in Zimbabwe during the first quarter of 2017. This is meant to prepare local authorities to start modelling SEZs that could be hosted by their provinces.
“The target is to have at least one SEZ in each province in order to enable decentralised development of the country.
“The SEZs concept shall also be tailor made for Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora. Zimbabwe is taking a cue from countries such as India and Ethiopia whose Diaspora community contribute immensely to the development process of their countries,” he said.
In this light, it is envisaged that the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion will collaborate with line ministries to introduce Diaspora SEZs to facilitate the country to tape from the latent financial base which lies within the Diaspora.
Dr Mpofu said next year his ministry will launch an “Invest in Zimbabwe” handbook that will aid in the dissemination of information to investors including those from the Diaspora.
“This shall be our major marketing document meant to unpack the vast investment opportunities in the country. The document also lays a clear direction to which the country is aiming with regards to investment. Investors should be made aware of the investment opportunities in the country including those in provinces,” he said.
“Currently, the ministry is in the process of setting up a new board for the Zimbabwe Investment Authority. The board shall be composed of highly qualified persons and is expected to spearhead Government’s 2017 investment thrust and ensure that investors obtain their investment licences/permits under one roof without being tossed from one office to the other.
“The new ZIA board will engage investors from all parts of the world including those from Africa such as Dangote to also promote intra-Africa trade and investment,” he said
@okazunga
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