Govt to mobilise funds for convention centre

The convention centre will house delegates to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly in 2013.
The Victoria Falls Local Organising Committee, tasked to lead preparatory work for the successful hosting of the general assembly, has said $200 million was needed for the setting up of the convention centre ahead of the world tourism event.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa (Retosa) workshop in Bulawayo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Dr Sylvester Maunganidze said Government would negotiate for funding from international financiers at concessionary rates.
“Construction of the convention centre will be funded by Zimbabwe and done by Zimbabwe. But do we have the resources to build the centre?

“We have agreed as Government that the resources for the convention centre will be sourced from local and international financiers.
“We will negotiate with international financiers that the resources be disbursed at concessionary rates,” he said.

He said construction of the centre that would accommodate 3 000 delegates was expected to take 12 months to complete.
“Our planners are already working on the drawings. The construction of the convention centre is going to be done and we need at least 12 months to construct the centre. The companies that we have talked to have said they require between 12 and 14 months to complete building the centre.”

Asked about the cost Zimbabwe will incur in hosting the conference he said:
“The hosting is not expensive, all the delegates will come and pay for their accommodation, food and other expenses. What is the cost is on infrastructural development that needs to be done. For example, the development of the Victoria Falls Airport so that it can handle all kinds of aeroplanes that will be landing during the assembly.”

He said the cost of building a convention centre and other infrastructural developments to be done ahead of the UNWTO general assembly were nothing compared to the benefits derived from infrastructure development and the setting up of the centre.