SEZs authority proposal rejected

Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development has proposed that the Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) be responsible for overseeing the Special Economic Zones as opposed to setting up a new authority.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the committee had noted that a new authority would lead to avoidable costs being incurred by the government.

SEZs are geographical areas governed by one oversight management body that offers special trade incentives to firms that establish themselves in the designated zones.

“With respect to paragraph 3.1 of their report on new authority, the committee is proposing that ZIA be responsible for overseeing the SEZs as opposed to setting up a new authority which would lead to avoidable costs being incurred by the government. My response …is that, Section 7 of the ZIA Act, does indeed allow ZIA to handle investment promotion strategies,” said Chinamasa.

“The issue of SEZs is quite specialised and in order to get optimal value out of this policy, there is a need to be focused in our approach towards SEZs. For that reason, I would like to have a dedicated body dealing with SEZs and therefore would like to retain the institution structure in the Bill.”

Last month, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Desire Sibanda was opposed to ZIA chairman Nigel Chanakira’s view that the government should not establish a new board as that would increase its expenditure.

“With respect to paragraph 3.2 of the report to do with the recommendation that regional representation be adhered to as provided in Section 18 of the Constitution, I thank the committee for this suggestion which I’m very much alive to, and it’ll be taken into account when composing the board of directors of the authority,” said Chinamasa.

He said the committee had also recommended that people with criminal records should not be eligible for appointment to the board.

“One needs to give consideration to the fact that if this is left open ended, even people who have previous convictions for what we consider as politically motivated convictions before independence, would be ineligible.

“In addition, a key principle of our criminal law is that persons who commit offences should be rehabilitated to the extent possible.

Equally, a person whose criminal record may extend beyond five years could well not have reformed so that the period of five years serves as a guide to the appointing authority in determining persons suitable for appointment,” said Chinamasa.

The minister said he was also agreeable to the committee’s recommendation that under the SEZs, application for investment licences and developers’ permits outside Harare be decentralised in addition to the use of electronic means.

Last week, the committee recommended that the SEZs Bill should exempt the application of the Labour and Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Acts to stimulate development by attracting local and foreign direct investment.

The committee said this would be in line with standard practice in SEZs worldwide. The setting up of SEZs is expected to go a long way in giving impetus to economic growth through enhancing Zimbabwe’s competitiveness, stimulating demand, improving production efficiency, employment generation, better resource allocation and export expansion leading to the creation of economies of scale.