adminTinashe Makichi : Business Reporter
Government has put in place a strong corporate governance structure which calls upon businesses to follow rational practices in their mandates, a senior Government official said. As part of Government’s efforts to set up corporate governance structures, a National Code on Corporate Governance which provides a framework for corporate conduct for both the public and private sectors was launched last year.Speaking at the Business Leadership and Enterprise Competitiveness Summit yesterday, Minister of Policy Coordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures in the President’s Office, Ambassador Khaya Moyo said the set corporate governance structures should bode well with transparency and accountability issues.
“Government has put in place a strong corporate governance structure which calls upon corporates to follow rational practices in their mandates.
“It is evident from the foregoing that Government is doing its best to create a conducive environment for the private sector to operate efficiently.
“The best way to fight corruption is to eliminate those involved, that is taking them away from the society for a longtime,” said Ambassador Moyo.
“The Chinese have always said that if you don’t eliminate corruption you are bound to perish.”
The code critically evaluates issues of corruption in the public and private sectors, corporate disclosure, communication and mechanisms for creating trust between shareholders, boards, management and employees.
Ambassador Moyo said Government is also aware that competitiveness of companies has been negatively affected by high overhead costs relating to utilities, transport,energy,labour among others.
He said a taskforce was set up with a view to review these costs so that the same can become comparable to those obtaining in other regional countries.
Ambasador Moyo said a major stride has been taken by Government to further improve the investment climate.
Government has come with a plan to establish special economic zones which will accord more preferential incentives to companies which will set up shop there.
“It is a fact that such countries as China,Jordan,United Arab Emirates, South Africa, among others which have consistently registered high and sustainable growth rates have done so on the back of the creation of special economic zones,” said Ambassador Moyo.
He said the bill for the creation of special economic zones is currently before Parliament.
In China SEZs account for about 22 percent of National GDP, 46 percent of FDI, and 60 percent of exports and generated in excess of 30 million jobs.
The most successful Chinese SEZ, Shenzhen managed to develop from a small village into a city with a population of over 10 million within 20 years.
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