Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE’s export promotion body, ZimTrade, is at the Singapore-Africa Business Forum and has taken the opportunity to explore the possibility of expanding markets for fresh produce in Asia.
ZimTrade officials visited several retail outlets in Singapore as part of a mission to explore new markets in that country and find ways to strengthen economic cooperation with the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a whole.
Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, ZimTrade chief executive officer Mr Allan Majuru said they were looking at diversifying markets and had identified the ASEAN region, including Indonesia and Singapore, as potential destinations for Zimbabwe’s fresh produce.
“As you are aware, we are currently here to participate in the Singapore-Africa Business Forum, but, as ZimTrade, what we did in looking at our strategy is, we need to diversify markets and we also looked at the ASEAN region, Indonesia, Singapore, just to mention those two countries and through the ministry and our embassy, we then did market scans for both Indonesia and Singapore.
“In doing our scan this year, we then noticed that there is huge potential in terms of fresh produce, essential oils, and also issues to do with nuts and macadamia nuts,” Mr Majuru said.
ZimTrade said they were satisfied with the presence of Zimbabwe’s products in the shops visited.
“We are very pleased to note that when we visited some of the retail shops here, we have got good presence, especially on fresh produce, mainly focusing on blueberries, which is a sign that the market is very receptive to our products.
“I think the next step now is to move further, to look at products like strawberries and avocados, to make sure they are also find shelf space here in Singapore. In terms of fresh produce, we are the biggest grower, fastest grower in Africa in terms of blueberries.
“But most importantly, I think we are looking at market diversification, because we don’t want our eggs in one basket. So, we are trying to make sure that in Asia, we have got market presence; in the Middle East we have got market presence, as well as in Europe. So, we are mainly focused on diversification,” he said.
Zimbabwe is stepping up its economic diplomacy drive in Asia and the country’s Ambassador to Indonesia and Singapore Mr Martin Makururu said Government was committed to deepening bilateral ties with the two nations, while opening new doors for Zimbabwean exports.
“Bilateral relations between Zimbabwe, Singapore and Indonesia are excellent. We are almost 40 years into diplomatic relations with the two countries, and we also share seats on the Non-Aligned Movement, not to mention the UN General Assembly and the UN itself. So, we are very close with these two countries.
“What we are trying to do here is to deepen economic relations in line with our mantra to forge stronger economic cooperation in pursuit of economic diplomacy. We need to go, especially into Indonesia. It is a huge market,” Ambassador Makururu said.
The population of Indonesia currently stands at 281 million, and it is one of the largest and most populous countries in the world.
“So, to penetrate the market, we should negotiate what I would call preferential trade agreements, especially with Indonesia, because in the absence of government-to-government agreements, the market is so regulated that it really gives preference to the holders of government-to-government agreements for us to be able to negotiate tariffs, which makes our products competitive on the market here,” Ambassador Makururu said.
Online Reporter