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(TIMES) State, SMEs will continue partnership

State, SMEs will continue partnership
By Business Reporter

THE Government will continue to partner with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to facilitate and enhance economic development in the country, Commerce, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister, Richard Taima, has said.

Mr Taima said the Government would continue to work closely with the Zambia Chamber of Small and Medium Business Association (ZCSMBA) in the designing and implementation of various business programmes for the MSMEs. Mr Taima praised ZSCMBA for being a strategic partner in the development of MSMEs in the country.

“Government views ZCSMBA as an agent of progressive change and a facilitator of economic development in Zambia,” he said.

The minister said this when he officiated at the sixth business enterprise exhibition organised by ZCSMBA in Lusaka at the weekend.

He said MSMEs had the capacity to contribute greatly to foreign exchange earnings, rural industrialisation and the utilisation of value addition.

Mr Taima noted that some of the programmes in which the Government had partnered with ZCSMBA include the business development service voucher programme.

The Government has also worked with the organisation to re-establish the credit guarantee scheme as well as in the quest to establish a national business incubator programme, among other initiatives.

Mr Taima challenged the small-scale business sector to take advantage of business associations and exhibitions to broaden their market base.

He said by taking part in events such as exhibitions, MSMEs would create links with large enterprises which would in turn contribute to the development of the small-scale business sector.

“My Government is mindful of the fact that most local economic players in our country are in the MSMES size bracket and the contributions of these enterprises to economic development cannot be overemphasised,” he said.

Labels: SMEs, ZSCMBA

posted by MrK @ 4:51 PM