The Sunday News
Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company has sold 75 percent of the exhibition space for the holding of the inaugural Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Energy (WASHen) expo to be held this week at its exhibition centre in Bulawayo.The two-day WASHen showcase will be held on Thursday and Friday.
The exhibition will run concurrently with two conferences with the first one being on the opening day and officiated by the Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere who is expected to deliver a keynote address on “Water at the Centre Stage of Zimbabwe’s Economic Development”.
The conference will run under the theme, “Innovative WASH Solutions for Sustainable Development”.
It brings together a mixture of stakeholders in the water, sanitation, hygiene and energy sectors.
“These include civic leaders and non-governmental organisations, business leaders, policy makers and ordinary citizens who will discuss and debate issues in these sectors, with a view to drawing up actionable resolutions to achieve the national agenda for socio-economic development,” said ZITF Company general manager, Mrs Nomathemba Ndlovu.
She said some of the issues that will be deliberated include financial turnaround in urban utilities, rural water financing, rural and urban water planning, public and private sector roles in hygiene and sanitation.
Mrs Ndlovu said on Thursday, the WASHen expo would join the national Clean Energy Week celebrations through an energy conference themed, “Relevant, Integrated and Viable National Energy Solutions” where the Ministry of Energy and Power Development has been invited to speak on a topic “Energy as the Core Driver of Zimbabwe’s Economic & Social Development.”
“Presentations at this conference will be delivered by representatives from organisations that have an interest in the provision of sustainable energy. These include the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, Zimbabwe Energy Council, Rural Electrification Agency, Oxfam, ZERO and Practical Action.
“Their papers will cover issues such as energy efficiency in industrial processes, energy generation as a business, rural electrification and independent renewable power production. The two conferences have also attracted foreign speakers from South Africa (DNA Economics, Eskom and the National Energy Regulatory Authority) as well as Mozambique (Vitens Evides International),” Mrs Ndlovu said.
She said organisations that have booked exhibition space include local authorities, non-governmental organisations, water bottling companies, suppliers of hygiene products, water treatment, filters and chemicals, rainwater management, desalination, water engineering and equipment, wastewater treatment and disposal, pump manufacturers, environmental management advocacy organisations, designers of environmentally friendly technologies, water resource management bodies, rural development projects, power and water projects, and distributors of solar equipment.
“We are anticipating more bookings from producers of submersible piping systems, irrigation equipment, sanitation products, water tanks and packaging, energy products as well as other related products and services.
“To show their commitment to WASHen 2014, relevant stakeholders have also scheduled their meetings to coincide with the event,” Mrs Ndlovu said.
