Masvingo to hold investment conference

The conference is the brainchild of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Mr Tapiwa  Mashakada who last year urged local business people to organise an investment meeting where they would market the province.

 

Masvingo Business Directory director Mrs Angeline Mikiri said Masvingo had many economic drivers but the challenge was no one bothered to market them.

She said the conference would be held on 28 September and will see renowned business experts taking delegates through various business topics.

“This is a follow up to the idea brought by Minister Mashakada when he came for the MTP launch last year. Together with other notable business people we sat down and discussed this issue seriously until we came up with the idea of a meeting of this magnitude where who is who in the business sector would gather in Masvingo to discuss business,” said Mrs Mikiri.

She said the province was awash with resources that if exploited could turn the region into an industrial hub.

“Masvingo province is awash with many economic drivers but they are lying idle as there is no meaningful business activity. We are home to sugarcane and fruits but we don’t have a canning plant neither do we have a sugar manufacturing plant. Everything is done in Harare. It is high time we exploit our resources to our competitive advantage and it is after all these considerations that we thought of coming up with a conference.

“We can actually turn this province into an industrial hub,” she said.
Mrs Mikiri said the conference was meant to bring positive change to Masvingo province in terms of business.

“This will be a platform for the forging of strategic partnerships. We look forward to raising awareness on a good number of economic drivers in Masvingo that include fisheries, tourism, manufacturing, mining, sugar industry, to name but a few.

“We hope the conference will have a ripple effect on the economic face of this province,” she said.

She said the conference would also address issues of selfishness on the part of the business community in the province adding that a lot of business people wanted to do things on their own as opposed to partnerships.