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(DAILY MAIL) ‘Economy booming, attracting FDIs’

‘Economy booming, attracting FDIs’
By KANGWA MULENGA

MINISTER of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mike Mulongoti, says the country’s economy is booming and continues to attract a lot of foreign direct investment. Speaking at the official opening of a two-week media training course for business reporters at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mulongoti said Zambia was recording economic growth because of the enabling environment Government provided.

Mr Mulongoti called on business journalists to help investors understand the information they needed for economic activity.

“The Zambian economy is booming and attracting a lot of investors. Not all investors coming here will have the intention to serve Zambia through their investment and so some might do things that are detrimental to the country,” he said.

Mr Mulongoti, who is also Chief Government spokesperson, said it would be cardinal to build a good cadre of journalists who could interpret economic trends.

“In this era of globalisation, it is important that we build capacity in our journalists for them to acquire analytical skills that would enable them provide the kind of information that our country needs in the economic sector,” he said.

Mr Mulongoti said proper business reporting would place Zambia on top as an investment destination because good reporting on economic activities, investment opportunities and the tax regimes could help investors decide whether to come to Zambia or to take their capital elsewhere.

“Lately, we have seen a lot of economic activities in certain parts of the country in sectors like mining and in the informal sector,” he said.

He called for networking between Zambian business reporters and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that had rich sources of information. He urged business reporters to acquaint themselves with the country’s Fifth National Development Plan, the Vision 2030 and other economic programmes.

Speaking at the same function, ZAMCOM board of trustees vice-chairperson, Flavier Chishimba, commended the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services for partnering with ZAMCOM to train journalists from the public media.

Ms Chishimba said the programme would help journalists, especially those in rural areas to get the required skills and knowledge in business reporting. Meanwhile, Mr Mulongoti said at The Post newspaper’s workshop for interns that journalists must be truthful and avoid corruption when discharging their duties. He said factual reporting was a cornerstone of good journalism that gave reputation to media personnel.

“I am urging you to be truthful, objective and above all knowledgeable on issues you want to report about. I feel very hurt when a journalist comes to me and asks questions on subjects they have not researched,” he said.

He also said journalists should avoid getting money from sources, saying such actions undermined their integrity. He also said journalists should not be prosecutors when discharging their duties but maintain their role of conveying correct information to the public.

“Journalists should not be corrupt, they should instead lead by example by refusing brown envelopes because accepting such inducement can lead to your failure to criticise sources professionally,” he said.

The Post managing editor, Amos Malupenga, said the paper would continue to provide training to its future journalists. Mr Malupenga said journalists from other private media institutions were also benefiting from the three-month training.

“In this year’s group we have trainee journalists from Muvi TV and after they finish they would go back to Muvi TV. We believe in sharing whatever we have and that’s why we invited our colleagues from Muvi,” he said.

Labels: FDI, JOURNALISM, MIKE MULONGOTI

posted by MrK @ 5:15 PM