adminOliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Russian government is keen to facilitate technical support and lines of credit to revive the country’s industry, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha said in Bulawayo yesterday.Speaking during a fully packed business breakfast meeting organised by Chronicle at a city hotel, Minister Bimha said the Russian delegation that was in the country agreed to enter into joint ventures with local firms.
“The delegation came for the joint commission and was led by the Minister of Industry and Trade from the Russian Federation. We had a fruitful discussion with them and they indicated their willingness to look at two things; one the establishment of credit lines for Zimbabwe between their banks in Russia and our banks here (Zimbabwe), which will then facilitate the funding of on lending to the productive sectors,” he said.
“The other issue was their keen interest in joint venture partnerships.”
The visit by the Russian government officials and business delegation, said Minister Bimha, culminated in a joint permanent commission.
He said the Russians were seeking strategic partnerships in areas such as food industry, clothing and textile, and edible oil sectors, which are critical to the success of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation (Zim-Asset), the government’s economic blueprint.
“We would like to reconfigure the Industrial Development Corporation so that it opens a new window specifically to fund industry, mobilising resources and directing those resources to industry,” Minister Bimha added.
“We’re also in negotiations with a company from South Africa that has strong links with the PTA Bank . . . and we’re almost getting to sign an MoU again with this particular company to mobilise resources for onward lending to local companies.”
Following the liberalisation of the economy in February 2009, the country has been going through a number of challenges that include lack of foreign direct investment, competition from cheap imports and liquidity constraints to support the industrial drive and economic development to competitive levels.
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has said the manufacturing sector requires about $8 billion to stimulate robust productivity to competitive levels.
As a result of the prevailing economic challenges, capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector has remained low.
Last year, capacity utilisation in the manufacturing industry was at 39,6 percent declining from 44,6 percent in 2012.
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