The Sunday News
INDUSTRY and Commerce Minister Cde Mike Bimha and Head of the European Union Delegation in Zimbabwe, Ambassador Philippe Van Damme will on Wednesday launch the Zimbabwe-European Business Information Centre (Zim-EBIC) in Bulawayo which is set to open business linkages between local companies and those from the EU.
In a statement on Friday, trade and promotion body ZimTrade said the Zim-EBIC is aimed at increasing the capacity of Zimbabwean exporters to the EU and establish mutually beneficial linkages with their European counterparts.
“The platform will also enhance knowledge sharing on thematic areas such as: EU Market Intelligence; EU Trade Fairs; ESA-EU interim Economic Partnership Agreement (ESA-iEPA); GSP; Tariffs; NTBs; and opportunistic use of Experts from EU member states as well as experienced Zimbabwean entrepreneurs (peer-to-peer coaching),” said ZimTrade in a statement.
It said the initiative was part of the 3 million Euro EU support to Trade and Private Sector Development Project, which was being implemented by the International Trade Centre.
The centre will be similar to the one launched in Harare in August last year.
“The information centre in Bulawayo will be housed within ZimTrade’s Regional Office. It will form an integral part of the Trade Information Centre to benefit companies within the Matabeleland and Midlands Region.”
Mr Marcos Vaena, the Chief Enterprise Competitiveness Section for the ITC will be part of the Delegation at this occasion.
ZimTrade chief executive officer, Ms Sithembile Pilime, expressed appreciation to the European Union and underscored that the development is expected to place ZimTrade in a strong position to enhance service delivery as well as provide market intelligence to its clients.
Since the inaugural launch of the Zim-EBIC last year in Harare, the monthly usage of the centre has increased by more than 100 percent as more companies are appreciating the improved quality of services.
ZimTrade said it envisages this initiative to reposition and strengthen its role as the national trade development and export promotion entity that provides a high quality, client needs-driven trade information to the Zimbabwean export sector, among other services.
