Maravi

(HERALD) ‘Mobilise resources for mining’

‘Mobilise resources for mining’
Business Reporters

THE inaugural Mining Indaba 2009, kicked off in Harare yesterday with the Minister of Finance, Mr Tendai Biti calling for resource mobilisation from both domestic and humanitarian sources to revive the country’s mining sector. He said there was a need for developmental support in the form of direct investment, lines of credit and support for infrastructure development.

"We need to address the liquidity crunch and limited lending by the banking sector and address the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and the Global Political Agreement to create confidence," he said.

Minister Biti said one of the fundamentals in creating a conducive environment is to review the current taxation system.

He added that the taxation system would be fully addressed in the coming National Budget to be announced in November.

"Fiscal incentives will be continually reviewed," he added.

The country’s mining sector has suffered from serious skills shortages and Government is currently working on a skills development programme to replace skilled personnel that has left the country.

He said the mining sector is expected to pick and attract foreign direct investment as Government is addressing macro-economic reforms that include liberalisation and deregulation measures.

Critical priorities are being addressed under the Short Term Emergence Recovery Programme and will also for the agenda for the upcoming three-year budget macro-economic framework and the Medium Term Plan.

In the short to medium term Government’s overall thrust is to increase mineral production through supportive measures such as liberalising marketing of minerals including levying of international commodity prices. This is aimed at removing the gap between domestic and international prices to allow mining houses to get full value of their minerals.

Government is also looking at removing of all surrender requirements on all minerals including gold.

"As we do this we are also looking forward to continuous exploration and review of all frameworks of mining rights to remove deficiencies on exploration.

"We also need to work on promoting value addition of minerals" he added.

Government is also working on the issues of credibility, trust and consistence through creating consistent policies.

"We are working on the amendments of the Minerals Act to facilitate reviewing of mining rights, remove speculative tendencies and ensure full exploration on mineral resources," Biti said.

He added that the inclusive Government is working on efforts to rehabilitate the country’s mining sector, which is the heartbeat of the country’s economy.

"We are focusing on a number of economic drivers such as water, electricity production and infrastructure development," he said.

He said there was a need to develop the Kariba South power generation to ensure that the country’s industries have got enough power.

Biti also revealed that there were international and regional partners that were interested in developing the country’s infrastructure mainly the Beitbridge-Chirundu project.

Welcoming the investors the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Mr Obert Mpofu said Mining Indaba offers an opportunity to investors to explore Zimbabwe’s mining sector that is endowed with rich minerals.

He said the conference was important to Zimbabwe as it opens doors to investors to come and do business with Zimbabwe.

"The idea behind this indaba is to clear the way for investors and present them with the opportunities that the country has," Mpofu said.

Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Mr Elton Mangoma said positive economic development has been noticed since the inception of the inclusive government as shown by capacity utilisation that has increased from levels below 10 percent to between 30 and 40 percent.

He said the country presents a vast array of minerals which international and regional investors can take advantage of.

"Mining is the centrality of investment in Zimbabwe and during the process we should not forget the citizens and the environment we extract our minerals from," he said.

The Mining Indaba that was running under the theme "Reviving Zimbabwe’s Mining Sector, a clear way forward" was officially opened by President Mugabe and was attended by senior Government officials and investors across the globe.

The indaba is ending today and Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to officially close the conference.

Labels: MINING, NEOLIBERALISM, OBERT MPOFU, TENDAI BITI

posted by MrK @ 5:57 PM