(HERALD) Govt works on economic recovery plan

Govt works on economic recovery plan
Bulawayo Bureau

THE Ministry of Industry and Commerce is working on an economic recovery plan whose framework is expected to be complete next week, the Minister Professor Welshman Ncube said yesterday.

Addressing businesspeople at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce offices in Bulawayo, Prof Ncube said the plan was an emergency one. The Minister of Regional Integration and International Co-operation, Ms Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, attended the business meeting.

"The plan is an emergency one and is expected to take us up to the end of this year," Minister Ncube said.

He said the plan sought to address aspects that were important to business.

"With the economic recovery plan, we are trying to address the social sector, that is, the health and education systems. The education sector requires a minimum of US$1 billion while the productive sector also requires the same amount," he said.

He noted that the social sector could only be supported through reviving the productive sector of the economy.

"As Government, we will not be able to support the social sector unless we resuscitate the productive sector," he said. Prof Ncube said his ministry would identify the key industries of the economy to which resources would be rolled out.

"We will identify key industries and provide them with equipment and raw materials to revive production. At the moment, many businesses are operating at an average of 10 percent and we want to ensure that by the end of the year production is raised to 60 percent," said Prof Ncube.

He said the Government needed to create an enabling environment for businesses.

"What has incapacitated our business is lack of resources and it is the opportune time for us as a country to create credit lines," he said.

Prof Ncube implored captains of industry to help his ministry in defining the key industries crucial to the economy.

"So far, we have asked ZNCC and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries to help us identify the critical industries. As a ministry, we have already identified some of those industries. These include the fertilizer, agro-foods, pharmaceutical, beverages and packaging industries," he said.

Once the strategic industries were identified, Prof Ncube said, the enterprises would be asked to state their requirements in terms of capitalisation.

He said his ministry had also strategically targeted the retail sector to ensure that basic commodities are available in the shops.

The ministry had also asked ZNCC and CZI to identify policy failures and find out what resolutions could be undertaken to address the predicament.

"And the policies that they come up with must convince us so that they make sense when we present them to Parliament. We are also waiting to receive documentation from business leaders as far as these policies are concerned," he said.