adminThe Herald 24 April 1986
THE five-year national development plan released last week provides useful clues to Government thinking about Zimbabwe’s development and particularly the need to integrate private sector activities with national development goals.
So far private sector reaction has been mixed with many tending to shrug off the importance of the plan.
The first annual plan, which is due out before the next Budget and which, together with the Budget, will flesh out many of the policy intentions contained in the plan into more concrete reality should create more interest.
But the plan itself should be studied carefully in the meantime. As the Prime Minister, Cde Mugabe, said in his foreword, it will be a “powerful vehicle” in the country’s war for economic liberation and a key instrument in the transformation of Zimbabwean society.
As the Prime Minister acknowledged, economic plans have in many countries ended up as “mere curios” with little or no influence and the planning exercise itself turning into a “futile exercise”
The reasons for this, he said, had been “either incongruent forces that enter the system from outside or lack of imagination and commitment on the part of policy-makers, or both”.
The success of the plan therefore depended on the combination of theory with practice and he called on Zimbabweans to rally behind the plan to ensure its success.
Dealing with industry, the plan says the Government intends to increase its participation in the private sector through either wholly-owned or joint venture operations and to both strengthen existing operations and to develop new ones, particularly in the intermediate and capital goods sectors, to ensure a more diversified and integrated economy.
Lessons for the day
The purpose of Zimbabwe’s five-year national development plan, as outlined in the article, was to serve as a strategic roadmap for achieving economic liberation, fostering societal transformation, and integrating the private sector with national development goals. It aimed to create a more diversified and self-reliant economy, particularly by increasing government participation in industry and supporting new ventures in key sectors.
A well-structured development plan can serve as a “powerful vehicle” for achieving national goals, provided it is supported by commitment and imagination from policymakers.
Collaboration between government and private sectors is essential for sustainable economic growth and innovation. The plan highlights the need for alignment between private activities and public objectives.
Online Reporter