admin
Oliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
SOUTH African business associations have started courting local businesspeople to explore possible areas of trade and investment in Matabeleland region. A delegation of representatives from some business associations from that country led by their South African embassy counsellor (economic) Frank Stevens are in the country this week to explore investment opportunities in Matabeleland.
“We’re here to begin a courting process with the local businesspeople on possible areas of trade and investment opportunities in the region (Matabeleland). We are really convinced that we need to collaborate in order to exploit our own wealth. We need to address the issues that we will grapple with in order to have the business linkages,” said an official from the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, manager business services Dumile Cele in her address during an interactive meeting organised by the Matabeleland Trade and Investment Promotion Network in Bulawayo yesterday.
The Matabeleland Trade and Investment Promotion Network, which is chaired by Donald Khumalo, focuses on linking local business associations with potential foreign investors in different sectors of the economy.
In an interview on the sidelines of the interactive meeting, Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal general manager responsible for the chief executive office, Neville Matjie, said there were many opportunities they were looking forward to seeing their members partnering with local counterparts.
He said the possible areas of co-operation were in different sectors of the economy such as mining, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing as well as establishing trade linkages.
“There are many investment opportunities that we are looking at and for now we want those which are ready. On the trade side we are looking for people who have products that they want to sell in South Africa, while at the same time also looking for people from South Africa that need to sell here,” he said.
“This week, we have been to Victoria Falls and we have identified investment opportunities in tourism and mining, in Hwange we have identified a coal mining project as one of the possible areas of investment while in Lupane there are opportunities in methane gas, coal mining and timber,” said Matjie.
Earlier in his address, he said the purpose of their trip was to explore trade and investment opportunities in Matabeleland region which they would explain to their members in South Africa so that they could link directly with their local counterparts.
Matabeleland Business Association chairman Peter Phosa told the South African delegation during the meeting that the region was endowed with vast investment opportunities.
“Matabeleland South is more suitable for agriculture particularly livestock production, Matabeleland North has investment opportunities in mining and tourism. In Bulawayo, the city was the industrial hub for the country. The infrastructure and machinery is there; what only needs to be done is resuscitating the obsolete infrastructure and equipment. We are jealously guarding our facilities and what we need is funding,” he said.
Over the years, Zimbabwe has been reeling under economic challenges resulting in Bulawayo, the once industrial hub of the country, suffering massive de-industrialisation.
Online Reporter