Balanced trade accelerate economic development: Minister Muswere

Mutare Bureau

BUSINESS must fully exercise its central role of facilitating the reduction of the country’s import bill for Zimbabwe to achieve a balanced trade position for accelerated economic development.

This was said by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere while speaking as guest of honour at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce regional awards here on Friday.

“One of the objectives of Vision 2030 is a private sector-driven economy,” he said. 

“Sovereignty is no longer defined by geographical boundaries. It is no longer defined in terms of territorial integrity and the security apparatus that we have.

“It is also defined by capacity. This is why President Mnangagwa has said ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’. Business has a role to play in developing the economy in Zimbabwe.

“This is precisely why the explicit goal is to have a private sector-driven economy by the year 2030. In this regard, we look at our balance of trade. The more imports we have than the exports we have, the more it creates an unfavourable balance of trade.

“The more exports we have than the imports, the more it becomes a favourable balance of trade.”

Dr Muswere said one of the central priorities of the country’s mid-term development programme — the National Development Strategy 1 — was to accelerate human capital development to enhance Zimbabwe’s capacity to produce.

“To define national sovereignty, it is now about intellectual capacity,” he said. 

“What we import is what we cannot produce. It also defines the know-how. We export what we can produce. So, this is where the issue of intellectual sovereignty comes into play.” 

He added: “But how do we redefine and unlock new frontiers in the context of technological sovereignty? How do we ensure that Zimbabwe has got a favourable balance of trade? It means we need to analyse our import bill. It means business has to explore how to produce these goods locally.”

Speaking during the same event, Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Advocate Misheck Mugadza said: “The first thing I want to tell our businessmen and women is that they should never be afraid to venture into new enterprises. 

“There is no business that is reserved for a certain type of people or a certain group of people. They should access knowledge and know-how on how to run different businesses. 

“Manicaland has a lot of opportunities in timber plantations, mining and tourism, but you find that our people easily venture into the small-scale retail business. I feel it is my duty to tell people to explore all these other bigger opportunities.”

Mr Tendai Saurombe was recognised as Businessman of the Year, while earthmoving entrepreneur Mr Blessing Mangwiro was the first runner-up.

Ms Susan Peters won the Businesswoman of the Year award.