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Zvamaida Murwira, Senior Reporter
THE 7th Annual Sadc Industrialisation Week opens in Harare tomorrow with several activities, including seminars, meetings, dinners, exhibitions, workshops among others, lined up during the event, which is a traditional precursor to the Heads of State and Government Summit.
Running under the theme, “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised SADC,” the forum provides a platform for Sadc member states, the private sector, international partners, policymakers, researchers, SMEs, financial institutions, and civil society to share experiences on driving industrialisation and economic transformation in the region.
President Mnangagwa is expected to deliver a keynote address on Wednesday where he will set the tone for the event.
The SADC Industrialisation Week is the largest public-private platform and consultative body for industrialisation in the SADC region and key focus areas include mineral beneficiation, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure development, women and youth entrepreneurship, and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) enterprises.
It seeks to intensify multi-stakeholder engagement in implementing the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 with a key focus on reviewing progress and challenges in executing the SADC Industrialisation Strategy.
It also provides a platform to share success stories and solutions for developing robust regional value chains across priority sectors within the SADC Region.
The 2024 edition follows successful Sadc Industrialisation Weeks hosted in the past by the Kingdom of Eswatini, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and United Republic of Tanzania since commencement in 2016.
Some of the objectives of the Sadc Industrialisation Week, according to the Sadc website, are to disseminate information on the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, and commemorate the Africa Industrialisation Day in the region in a much more effective way.
It also seeks to intensify engagement and develop partnerships with development partners and other third parties to promote the SADC Industrialisation Strategy at the national and regional level.
The event aims to identify challenges faced by businesses in the region in the development and strengthening of Regional Value Chains (RVCs).
Other objectives include engaging policymakers, private sector, academia, researchers, and other key stakeholders in policy dialogue to enhance work on Industrialisation at both national and regional levels, increase engagement on the Industrialisation strategy at the national and regional level and share progress on the implementation of previous Sadc Industrialisation Week declarations and success stories.
According to a final programme released this week, tomorrow’s event will see brief welcome remarks from Sadc deputy secretary regional integration, Ms Angele Makombo N’tumba and Permanent Secretary for Industry and Commerce, Dr Thomas Utete Wushe.
There will be an investment forum on Monday that will be officially opened by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
Other dignitaries scheduled to make presentations include the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mangaliso Ndlovu and Secretary for Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Mr George Guvamatanga.
Discussions during the investment conference are expected to focus on Science Technology and Innovation policy support and development, promotion of public-private partnership investment, research and development infrastructure, and the development of research, innovation and technology transfer.
There will be an exhibition running concurrently with the investment forum and the dialogue sessions.
It will showcase cutting-edge technologies, research results, and innovative products from the region.
The Sadc Industrialisation Week will run as a precursor to the regional 44th summit where Heads of State and Government from the region will convene in Harare on 17 August 2024.
President Mnangagwa is expected to assume chairmanship of Sadc during th0e summit.
Zimbabwe has made significant preparatory work particularly on infrastructure development where the road network has been improved tremendously to facilitate seamless movement of delegates.
Online Reporter