Zambia needs development plan - Chamber of Mines

Zambia needs development plan - Chamber of Mines
By Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Wed 28 Oct. 2009, 04:00 CAT

CHAMBER of Mines assistant general manager Lawrence Chileshe has said there is need for Zambia to have a development plan that gives direction to help various sectors to grow.

Presenting a paper during a post-budget tax review workshop at Kitwe’s Hotel Edinburgh, Chileshe also said there was need for the government to use tax relief strategies as one of the tools in promoting growth in different sectors of the economy.

“There is need for the country to have a development plan that gives direction, to help various sectors grow and also maximise on the benefits that the nation will derive from each sector,” he said.

Chileshe added that Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) would remain a very important source of financing.

“African continent continues to lag behind in attracting FDI. Over the years, it has been only attracting as little as three per cent of global FDI inflows, Zambia has been attracting less than one per cent of the said three percent of FDI that Africa receives,” he said.

Chileshe said the FDI figures were an indication of how much competition there was regarding FDI globally and also how important the level of investor confidence was in attracting investments.

And Chileshe said the 2010 budget did not present any changes in terms of taxation in the mining sector compared to the 2009 national budget.
Chileshe commended the government on its efforts in trying to mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis and the continued efforts to diversify the national economy from over-dependency on copper.

He said the mining sector was the largest foreign exchange earner and one of the major employers in Zambia.

Chileshe said the presence of viable mining houses contributed to the existence and growth of efficient local enterprises.