Comrade delegates,
It was only yesterday that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement launched the Command Livestock, Fisheries and Wild Life Programme. Through this programme, funding will be availed for increasing the national herd and other livestock, as well as revitalising the dairy sector. Resources will also be set aside to develop the fishing industry at community level by distributing fingerlings for fish breeding purposes. At a national scale we seek to fully exploit the Tokwe -Mukosi Dam and complete the Gwayi-Shangani Dam to benefit both communities and also the cropping and fisheries sub-sectors.
In addition, the development of pastures; the improvement of the quality of our livestock breeds through artificial insemination; the control and management of livestock diseases as well as the erection of fencing boundaries will be equally prioritised.
Comrade delegates,
I am confident that these vast interventions in the agricultural sector will improve our fortunes not only as a country, but principally, at household level. In the quest to unlock the maximum benefits from our primary products and translate these to dollars in both the national purse and people’s pockets, we are intensifying our efforts on value addition, beneficiation and industrialisation. Communities and the membership of the Party should fully exploit these opportunities as active participants.
As a result of various financial facilities from multi-lateral and bi-lateral organisations, we are expecting that our industries will soon be re-tooled, the National Railways of Zimbabwe revitalised and the Harare-Beitbridge Highway dualised. In the same vein, we will accelerate implementation of the Special Economic Zones which will attract new foreign investment. The in-roads made to date in the mining sector coupled with untapped potential as well as emerging partnerships point to the fact that economic recovery is imminent.
We will also open Zimbabwe up to investment by building an open, free and transparent economy, which benefits Zimbabweans and is welcoming to outsiders.
These initiatives, across all sectors, demonstrate that we have begun a new journey towards real growth and investment to empower our people. This thrust will undoubtedly translate to more jobs, more jobs and more jobs and a better living standard for all.
On my part, I assure you that these are not pipe dreams. Government will move with haste to ensure that all agreed programmes become a reality in the shortest possible period. Both the Party and its Government will no longer be about talk, but about work and delivery. That, I assure you.
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