Senior Reporter
SMALL and Medium Enterprises that will exhibit at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) four-day exhibition which starts on Tuesday have been urged to showcase high quality products to attract bigger markets.
Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development Minister Cde Sithembiso Nyoni said SMEs that will exhibit at the showcase should show how far they have developed and the efforts they are making to grow their business entities.
This year’s 55th edition exhibition will be officially opened by President Dennis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville and will be held under the theme “New ideas to new heights”.
“SMEs are gradually growing. We want them to move from being informal to formal and in the process turning them into big companies. At this year’s Trade Fair we want them to showcase their high quality products be it in food processing, clothing, craft, chemical engineering and metal fabrication.
“I am glad to say that the quality of our SMEs products has improved tremendously especially furniture. This is largely due to the fact that most of them are using the Indo-Zim equipment, which we place in various areas across the country,” Cde Nyoni said.
In 2012 the World Bank conducted a comprehensive scientific survey of the SME sector, with the data being validated extensively by Zimstat.
The survey had diverse objectives including assessing the size and scope of Zimbabwe’s MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sector, describing the formal and informal levels of access to finance and to services, identifying the greatest constraints on MSME development, identifying specific development needs of different market segments necessary to stimulate segment related innovation and formulating recommendations on attaining financial assistance for MSMEs, with attendant financial policies.
The survey was conducted by an initial multi-stage sampling process and comprehensive listing of over 57 000 households in 500 areas, thereby identifying 15 906 business owners. A total of 3 222 face-to-face interviews were conducted.