ZimTrade to equip firms with export skills

Business Reporter

ZimTrade will this week conduct a capacity building training of companies in the plastic pipes manufacturing and packaging industries. The training, which will be held from September 29-30 in Harare is part of ZimTrade’s Capacity Building interventions, under the Marketing and Branding for International Competitiveness (MBIC) training programme, is aimed at nurturing local enterprises into viable export entities.According to Trade Map, in 2015, the local plastic pipes industry recorded exports worth $361 000. However, the regional demand during the same period was generally high with Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana having recorded imports valued at $18,1 million, $25,1 million and $16,1 million, respectively.

On the other hand, the packaging sector plays an integral part in the export value chain. Capacitation of this sector is expected to have positive downstream effects on Zimbabwean exporters who are the end-users of the packaging products.

According to Dr Jacky Charbonneau, an international packaging consultant, packaging is a key source of competitiveness on the global market.

It is imperative for exporters and their suppliers to ensure that products are packaged to meet the necessary minimum regulatory and compliance requirements.

“If the packaging is not up to standards, no matter how good the product is, it is difficult to compete. Packaging must also ensure an optimum protection, preservation of the product all the way to its final destinations well as help sell the product”, he added.

The regional demand for both the plastic pipes and packaging products presents a huge opportunity to our local players. It is, therefore, important for our companies to scale up their international competitiveness in order to tap into this export market.

The MBIC programme was conceived as the first building block of ZimTrade’s future Vocational Training and Advisory portfolio. It was designed to be the first pillar of a series of vocational training modules dedicated to enterprise export competitiveness.