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“With specific reference to Bulawayo, this exhibition will go a long way towards the resuscitation of business and restoring investor confidence in the city.
“We hope businesses in Bulawayo will take advantage of this event to network and interact with their business colleagues from other parts of the country.”
Cde Mangondo said the expo will allow the political leadership and policy makers to engage fruitfully in finding ways of promoting the growth of the country’s economy.
He said the party has conducted similar activities at its previous conferences where the exhibition proved to be fruitful.
Cde Mangondo said the business expo was open to everyone and invited interested participants and members of the public from the Matabeleland region to come in large numbers.
The expo would among other things showcase products and services in different sectors such as agricultural inputs and machinery, mining, banking and insurance, construction, manufacturing, tourism, tobacco industry and transport.
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Cde Mangondo expressed satisfaction with the fund-raising activities for the conference and paid tribute to individuals and the private sector for contributing towards preparations for the event.
“We have received a lot of support from the private sector who have donated generously. The response is good and we continue to invite more donations from well-wishers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ZITF grounds were a hive of activity as party members, with the assistance of ZITF workers, embarked on sprucing up the conference venue.
Others were busy pitching up tents in preparation for the business exhibition.
Running concurrently was the accreditation exercise for civil servants and journalists, which was conducted at the Bulawayo Polytechnic’s School of Hospitality.
Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial secretary for information and publicity Cde Michael Sikhosana expressed satisfaction with the preparations.
“All the sub-committees for the conference are at ZITF putting up final touches for the conference venue to ensure that the place is suitable,” said Cde Sikhosana.
“Accreditation of delegates has been done and today accreditation is for uniformed forces. The party’s district chairpersons and sub-committee members will be accredited tomorrow.
“Accommodation has been sorted out and we will have a meeting later in the day to announce how the allocations have been made. There is direction and by Wednesday everything will be ready.”
Speaking from Harare, Zanu-PF national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said this year’s conference was important as it was the last ahead of the next election slated for next year.
“Zanu-PF is the only party with clear programmes and policies hence the theme of our conference ‘Defend national sovereignty, consolidate indigenisation and economic empowerment’. This underlines how clear we are with our policies,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.
“President Mugabe has underscored the importance of this conference because it is the last before we go for polls in 2012.
“However, this is a conference and not a congress hence it is not elective. Election of leaders only takes place at a congress and whoever is elected president at a congress becomes our candidate until the next congress.”
Delegates will start arriving in Bulawayo tomorrow.
More than 6 000 delegates are expected to attend the conference with discussions on indigenisation and empowerment programmes, agriculture, mining and other sectors of the economy expected to take centre stage.
Online Reporter