Give Zimbabweans in the diaspora same incentives as foreign investors-Parliament says

The Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act must be aligned to fit the new dispensation. Right now we are told that so many companies have come and projects have been approved but we do not know how many were rejected and for what reason. So, it must be clear. This Act is now going to be under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development. So, the Ministry has been given a huge mandate; that is why we were saying that the Department of International Trade must be taken away from them so that they concentrate on making sure that our domestic economy is resuscitated.

We have the issue to do with the One Stop Shop; this was introduced during the GNU and the former President opened this during Hon. Mashakada’s time but nothing has happened. So, we are saying that this is high time within these 100 days to make sure that this is resuscitated so that investors come to a single desk and ensure that they get the licensing withing five days. You know the Dangote issue, where is he now? He has gone because of these issues where there is a lot of bureaucracy. This is no longer needed in this new trajectory. The National Competitive Commission’s role must be redefined to make sure that it suits into this new thinking.

In terms of Foreign Affairs, as I said, we are happy that the Department of International Trade is now part of them and the new thrust must be – this has been said by His Excellency that we must now shift from political diplomacy to economic diplomacy. This must be intensified, that is why I was calling on the Minister to increase that budget so that we retrain our ambassadors, men and women who are manning our missions there so that they understand the mood we have here in order to improve our economy.

We are happy that the Minister talked about rationalisation of our embassies and this is going to save a lot. However, we must also think of opening up new frontiers. We are talking of businesses which can come from countries like Dubai and so on, to open up a consulate in Dubai. We have countries like Turkey, which are eager to invest in Africa and Zimbabwe is a proper destination because, as I said, our policies as enunciated by His Excellency are now clear. He talked about having free elections, the rule of law and zero tolerance to corruption. These alone are incentives, which we can now use as we look for Foreign Direct Investments.

Mr. Speaker, my Committee also recommends that the Ministry and other relevant Government Departments must draft a manual that captures this rebranding and reengagement of Zimbabwe. We must have a manual where even all the Hon. Members, if asked, will be able to say yes, here is the situation in Zimbabwe. In other words, it is what we call the elevator kind of approach…

Hon. Mukwangwariwa having left his seat to sit on the front bench was asked to go back to his seat by the Temporary Speaker.

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