Masvingo business expo set for November

Sharon Chimenya, Masvingo Correspondent
THE Masvingo business expo that is meant to lay a red carpet for investors who want to unlock the province’s vast business potential and harvest the low hanging fruits in sectors such as tourism, agriculture, fisheries and many others has been set for November this year.

The business extravaganza is expected to be a two-day event to be held on 17 and 18 November.  Speaking during a business breakfast Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Ezra Chadzamira urged the business community in Masvingo to tap into the development opportunities and ignite the economic development process.

The preparation of the business expo was held under the theme “Masvingo, The Investment Hub Towards Vision 2030” and Cde Chadzamira said that the province was endowed with rich soils, water bodies, and multi-skilled labour upon which investors could ride on and bring about valuable investment.

“Allow me to inform you that, the economy of Masvingo is a sleeping giant waiting for investors to kick-start it. Let me take this opportunity to encourage stakeholders to put in place necessary urgent interventions to ignite the economic development process.

“There is need for constant dialogue between policy makers and investors on ways to accelerate progress towards Vision 2030,” he said.

He added that the economic growth prospects of the province were premised on the adoption and swift implementation of bold policies and programmes aimed at achieving economic transformation through the creation of a thriving private sector led open and competitive economy anchored on the ease of doing business approach of the Second Republic.

He said that the economy of Masvingo was performing extremely well at 7,8% growth rate and it was within that framework that the province was seeking foreign and domestic investments in agriculture, mining, tourism and other sectors to unlock value in the vast mineral, wildlife, water and other resources through value addition and beneficiation.

“In order to achieve Vision 2030, the province has set inclusive economic objectives which include; achieving a USD 8 billion economy by 2030, creation of 40 000 formal jobs by 2025 during the NDS1 period, increasing per capita income from USD816 in 2018 to over USD3 000 by 2025, accelerating value addition and beneficiation of agriculture and mining products,” he said.

The Masvingo Business Expo which is the first business expo to be held in the province is expected to draw around 600 participants from the province.

Mr Andrew Chekani, the Chairperson for the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Masvingo branch said they were excited to host such a programme and hope to have more such expos in future.