(TALKZIMBABWE) Zim industry growing despite sanctions: Bimha

Zim industry growing despite sanctions: Bimha
By: Prof Tshuma, Business Reporter
Posted: Monday, April 11, 2011 7:24 am

INDUSTRY and Commerce deputy Minister and House of Assembly member for Chikomba West Constituency, Mike Bimha has expressed confidence that the local industry will steadily grow regardless of the Western imposed economic sanctions.

In an interview with The People’s Voice Business, Bimha said although the economic sanctions were contributing to poor economic growth and remuneration, there were high expectations that local industry would grow more than yesteryear.

“What we can say at the moment is that, from the look of things, we are expecting a modest growth from the local industry since the economy has grown a bit,” said Bimha.

“Last year the local industry recorded a significant growth that this year we have no doubt that we will have another growth that is acceptable but the sanctions are affecting the growth such that if they were not there, we were going to have a tripled growth,” he added.

He said the local industry was facing a lot of unjustified competition from foreign industries through imports such that the local industry’s produce would be second preference at the market.

“I think the local industry is failing to compete with the foreign markets because imported products will be cheaper as they will be of low quality as compared to the local products that are original,” he said.

Bimha expressed concern over the 'paltry' allocation to local industry by treasury.

He said it was high time that the treasury should allocate enough money to support in-house industry as that will in turn increase revenue inflows to government through taxes and create employment.

The local industry, Bimha said, needs to acquire modernized equipment so as to deal with opportunity cost. The equipment used by local industry has become obsolete.

“Usually equipment has to be revamped so as to tally with modernity because some of the equipment has become too old such that production becomes minimal when other similar industries abroad use modern equipment capable of producing more at a very short space of time,” he added.

Bimha castigated MDC-T formations for inviting sanctions which have stopped foreign investors from investing in the country.

The deputy minister, however, said the trading climate had improved compared to four years ago as locals are beginning to find ways of working in the sanctioned economy.

He also emphasized that Zimbabweans should now focus on measures to make sanctions irrelevant rather than continue talking about their effects.

The local industry has been affected much by the sanctions and several of them have closed down due to the effects of the unjustified sanctions.

Economic sanctions on Zimbabwe were invited by the MDC-T party as a way of trying to effect a regime change in Zimbabwe.

The sanctions were invited after President Robert Mugabe embarked on a historic agrarian land reform which was meant to empower indigenous people who owned minority of the productive land at the expense of the white minority who owned majority of the productive land.