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GOVERNMENT is pushing for the expedition of the country’s National Export Strategy that is set to address bottlenecks in the export sector as industry players move towards improving competitiveness of local products on the foreign market. The National Export Strategy is meant to achieve competitiveness, value addition and export diversification in areas of comparative advantage.The strategy would spur the growth of the export sector, aiming to restore confidence in the local industry that has over the years been affected by the influx of cheap imports. Addressing delegates during the ZimTrade Annual Exporters’ Conference, the Deputy Chief Secretary for Public Sector Modernisation, Performance Management and Administration to the President and Cabinet, Dr Ray Ndhlukula, said with a trade deficit of about $3 billion, Government has mooted an export strategy in line with the Zim-Asset economic blueprint.
Presenting the Progress Report on the Ease of Doing Business Reforms, Ndhlukula said: “The implication of the vision is to ensure that Zimbabwean enterprises remain viable and be able to grow the economy by not only supplying the local market but also exporting to other countries.”
He said Zimbabwe should take advantage of primary commodities where it has comparative advantage and improve on value addition.
“Unfortunately, in majority of cases, these products are being exported in their raw state and at a cheaper price thereby depriving Zimbabwe of the value-added revenue,” said Dr Ndhlukula.
“It becomes ironic that these products will then be brought back to Zimbabwe later in a value-added state and at much higher prices, hence negatively affecting the balance of trade equation,” he added.
Dr Ndhlukula bemoaned a myriad of challenges facing exporters. He said the office of the President had launched the rapid results initiative that optimises the achievement of goals in the short term, adding that this would assist in improving the country’s exports by removing bottlenecks that hamper the growth of industry.
In his presentation, he further noted that the necessity of implementing the Ease of Doing Business reforms as part of government’s broad strategy to accelerate the implementation of Zim-Asset. The Ease of Doing Business Reforms commenced in September 2015 after President Robert Mugabe gave a directive to improve the investment climate in Zimbabwe.
“The main objective of the Ease of Doing Business Reforms is to improve the investment climate in Zimbabwe in order to boost local and foreign investment as well as competitiveness in the global markets.
Dr Ndhlukula highlighted the major challenges affecting the export sector, which include complex and burdensome procedures administered by multiple regulatory agencies, low prices from the exports of non-value added products, high cost or delays caused by domestic transportation, corruption at border posts, limited access to trade finance from local and international financial institutions, multiple taxes/ levies charged, centralisation of agencies in major cities and uncompetitive prices for imported inputs.
Overally all these challenges render Zimbabwean products to be uncompetitive internationally Industry and Commerce Minister, Mike Bimha buttressed the need for urgent interventions in dealing with institutional bottlenecks.
It is industry that bears the immediate burden of the impediments to exports as they interface with the realities of inefficient and costly regulatory environment.
“It is, therefore, fitting that industry should be in the lead in identifying these unprogressive and burdensome regulations as well as proposing remedies to the challenges they face,” said Minister Bimha. — ZimTrade.
Online Reporter