German ambassador tells Zimbabwe to pay back loan to get new money

Hutter also said the business environment in Zimbabwe was not conducive for investment, citing too much government interference in businesses, cash shortages, brand integrity challenges and unfriendly laws.

“We believe  business and investment is possible and we need to address challenges that exist for companies to come to Zimbabwe, and I believe that there are differences in perception of Zimbabwe’s investment climate. German businessmen want to know your government policies and conditions to do business, and whether they will be able to access foreign currency which is needed if one has to do business,” Hutter said.

He said the mindset of German companies is that they want to have less government interference in their businesses.

“They know they have to pay taxes, but apart from that they want to do business, and the more government interferes with their businesses, the less happy they are.  They look at constraints of laws and their application.  They say there is a law but different authorities apply that law differently and that  brings confusion in policy implementation.”

The companies were also worried about the integrity of their brands wherever they invest.

“They are concerned about how much they put on the table and brand integrity.  If it is a large company, they want to ensure their standards remain the same.  They want to control the quality of their brand.  They bring in foreign currency inflows as investment, but that company needs to be able to access that money, and if that company makes a profit, it must be up to them to decide what they want to do with it,” he said.- The Source

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