(NEWZIMBABWE) Being land-locked is no curse: Mugabe

Sunday, August 05, 2012

(NEWZIMBABWE) Being land-locked is no curse: Mugabe

Being land-locked is no curse: Mugabe
05/08/2012 00:00:00
by Zambia Daily Mail

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe and Zambia should stop looking at their ‘land-locked’ geographical position as a curse and work to turn it into an economic opportunity.

Officially opening the 86th Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show in Lusaka Saturday, Mugabe suggested the southern African neighbours start considering themselves as “land-linked” as opposed to “land locked”.

“Being at the heart of the southern African region,” President Mugabe said, “Zimbabwe and Zambia offer a good location for regionally targeted industrial investments and infrastructure development projects.”

He added that opportunities for investors to undertake infrastructure development projects that are critical for industrial development and facilitation of competitive trade abound for the two neighbours.

“It is important for our two countries to prioritise inter-related infrastructure development projects in the transport, communications and energy sectors in order to increase the competitiveness of our productive sectors and facilitate trade,” he said.

The Zimbabwean leader said the theme of this year’s show, ‘Building on today’s Prosperity’, was appropriate as it pointed to the Zambian economy’s potential in Southern Africa and the rest of the world.

“I am pleased to note that Zambia has continued to maintain a trade policy aimed at enhancing productivity and competitiveness of Zambian products, on both the domestic and international markets, in order to achieve higher levels of economic growth and development,” he said.

He also called for diversification of economic activities in the agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors by placing increased emphasis on value addition.

“Dependence on the production and export of primary commodities, whose demand and prices are externally driven, will not lead us to the economic growth paradise that we so desire,” he said.

He commended Zambia’s industrial policy which aims at improving and facilitating investment in the manufacturing sector, which will lead to increased value addition and manufactured exports, job creation, and generation of foreign currency.

By using the same policy direction, the Zimbabwean government was also committed to driving the country through economic empowerment for the majority of its people, Mugabe added.

“We therefore welcome bona fide investors from all over the world who wish to seize the investment opportunities in various sectors of our economy on a win-win basis for the benefit of our country and her people,” he said.

He added that the volume of trade between Zambia and Zimbabwe is continuously increasing and rose to US$300 million last year, up from US$220 million in 2010.

Labels: INFRASTRUCTURE, ROBERT MUGABE, ZAMBIA AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCIAL SHOW