Maravi

(ZIMPAPERS) Join anti-sanctions fight, business urged

Join anti-sanctions fight, business urged
Sunday, 20 February 2011 01:32 Local News
By Prince Mushawevato in Nyanga

VICE-President Joice Mujuru has said the business community must join the fight against recently extended European Union sanctions as they are hurting the sector more than the so-called targeted individuals.

Addressing the CEO Africa Roundtable 2011 conference in Nyanga, Vice-President Mujuru said the time had come for business to take sanctions for what they were — an economic stranglehold.

“If we are serious about sustainable development, we need to address the issue of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe as an economic rather than a political imperative,” she said.

“The time to bury our heads in the sand is over, sanctions are hurting business perhaps more than people on the list.”

The United States and the EU imposed presumed targeted sanctions on Zimba-bwe a decade ago after the country embarked on a fast-track land reform programme which was aimed at addressing colonial land imbalances.

Cde Mujuru said the economy, two years after the introduction of a multi-currency system and the creation of the inclusive Government, was not yet on a sound footing.
“We have to make a choice that we want our economy to grow,” she said.

Cde Mujuru said the business community had to concentrate on its core activities and separate business from politics.

“We need to depoliticise all the non-political programmes and activities and stop dramatising our political differences,” she said.

“In my view, the exaggeration of political tension has had a worse impact on the economy than the actual political tension.”

For the sake of economic growth, said Cde Mujuru, “shameful acts of violence, whether real, stage-managed or simply dramatised, had to stop”.

She called upon the business community to increase support to the agricultural sector. The sector has traditionally been the bedrock of the country’s economy, providing, in good years, 60 percent of industry’s raw materials.

Vice-President Mujuru said the setting up of irrigation systems had to be prioritised.

“Logically, our planning efforts should aim to reduce rain-fed agriculture as the practice is no longer adequate,” she said.

The country, she said, had rich and fertile soil which, when well tapped, could produce enough to feed Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries.-The Sunday Mail

Labels: JOICE MUJURU, SANCTIONS

posted by MrK @ 8:02 PM