The Sunday News
Ngonidzashe Chiutsi Business Correspondent
ZIMBABWEAN companies should strive to add value to their products and produce quality goods that meet international standards so as to boost exports, acting Indian ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rakshpaul Malhotra has said.
In an interview on the sidelines of the ZimTrade’s Executive Development Programme on International Trade held in Bulawayo on Friday, Mr Malhotra said local companies should strive to be competitive on the global market by producing quality goods.
“For Zimbabwe companies to be able to make it on the export market, they must value add products and produce quality goods,” he said.
Mr Malhotra said Zimbabwe had a lot of potential to be an economic giant as it had all the resources.
“Zimbabwe has a lot of potential. It has all the resources like minerals and human resources which need to be fully utilised,” he said.
Mr Malhotra said India was already assisting Zimbabwe through many programmes to ensure that it improved its products quality.
He said Zimbabwe was expected to be self-sufficient in the value addition of its diamonds after a partnership between the Zimbabwe Diamond Centre and Shajanand Laser Technology Limited of India.
The ZimTrade training programme was held in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). It was aimed at capacitating companies in order to develop and enhance their exporting skills.
In a speech read on her behalf by ZimTrade manager for SMEs Mr Allan Majuru, at the closing ceremony of the training programme, ZimTrade chief executive officer Ms Sithembile Pilime, said the information acquired would go a long way in facilitating effective market penetration into targeted markets.
“I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the embassy of India for facilitating this fruitful collaboration with IIFT. It’s our hope that such initiatives will continue, as they complement ZimTrade’s capacity building mandate, especially for the SMEs and new exports,” said Ms Pilime.
Some of the participants at the five-day event expressed gratitude to the organisers for coming up with the training programme.
“The training was really an eye-opener and we are hopeful that it is going to help businesspeople in venturing into the export market,” said Association for Business in Zimbabwe chief executive officer Mr Lucky Mlilo.
Most local companies are failing to venture into export due to a number of challenges resulting in a negative trade balance.
The latest trade data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency shows Zimbabwe’s trade deficit stood at $3 billion between January and November last year as the economy continued its over-reliance on imports.
Zim Trade’s Export Manufacturing Capacity Survey for 2013 also revealed that over 70 percent of local companies that were exporting in the past 10 years had stopped due to numerous challenges such as hassles in producing for export and low production.
Firms indicated that once the Government came up with export supporting or enhancing policies, most of them would be able to increase their levels of exports as the capacity to do so was there.
