Take advantage of technology centres businesses challenged

In 2008, Zimbabwe and India launched              the Indo-Zimbabwe project that saw the setting up of technology centres following the donation of Print Circuit Board machinery by the Asian country to Bulawayo and Harare polytechnics to be used by small businesses.
Print Circuit Board machines are used to make industrial machine parts by scanning and duplicating the parts.

In an interview, Governor Mathema  said industrial output in the country was subdued because companies were using antiquated machinery which was no longer competitive.
He said against this background,   local businesses should take advantage    of the technology centres to upgrade  their plant and machinery in order to improve productivity in the manufacturing sector.
“Most companies are using machinery that is between 30 and 40 years old and    that old technology cannot compete with modern equipment from China, India and America.

“Use of obsolete equipment has also contributed to high costs of production,   and to alleviate such challenges, we need            our local companies to acquire new machinery.”
He said if the economy was to grow, there was a need to invest in technological advancement so that products produced can compete on the global market.
“The world is advancing on a daily basis and Zimbabwe needs to advance also which is why Bulawayo desperately needs the $40 million Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund meant for the revival of the local industry,” he said.

He also challenged the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development to market the Indo-Zim project so that small to medium size enterprises could benefit from it.
“The ministry must advertise the machinery so that many businesses are aware of the technology centres.

“Youths from different colleges and institutions must use this equipment  to produce new industrial machinery,”  he said.
Ambassador Mathema said the Indo-Zimbabwe project was one of the ways indigenous people could be empowered to enable them to take over the means of production.

“Capitalists never want to see us inventing our own plant and equipment because they want us to continue buying from them.
“This is the reason why most western countries will never buy anything  produced by developing countries like Zimbabwe,” he said.