Mnangagwa State of the nation address in full

To this end, the creation of a more competitive and business friendly environment must be given greater impetus by all relevant institutions. We will not pay lip service to this matter. Reforms must be real. Meanwhile, I challenge the private sector to be honest, ethical and honourable in their business dealings.

Madame President,

Mr Speaker, Sir,

Agriculture remains a key sector in the resuscitation and growth of our economy.  The restructured Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement will have an accelerated, more coordinated and composite approach to the mordenisation and mechanisation of our agriculture sector. As we quest to achieve maximum land utilisation for increased productivity; there is need for strategic and concise planning, development and use of our water bodies throughout the country.  We will be pursuing further investments and cooperation in this respect.

We note the ongoing increased production of maize, wheat and cotton. In line with our industrialisation agenda, the revival and development of vibrant agro- based industries along the various agro- value chains, such as cereals, cotton, vegetables, horticulture, fruits, meat and dairy products, among others, will be encouraged.

Government remains aware of the challenges that face our manufacturing sector.  We are committed to ease this pressure through increased foreign currency disbursements. Meanwhile, we must continue to scale up the value addition and beneficiation drive to ensure Zimbabwe enters the regional, continental and global value chains.

The mining sector remains yet another key component of our economic recovery programme. The production performance of gold, platinum and chrome sub- sectors are encouraging. My administration will facilitate further revival of the sector and broaden the range of minerals exploited. Government will continue to facilitate the acquisition and use of appropriate modern, efficient and adaptable technologies by our small scale miners to increase efficiency and output, especially in gold production.

We must take full advantage of our country’s lithium and Coal Bed Methane reserves to seek cooperation and investment and become a centre for research, development and the manufacturing of green energy solutions.

The development and mordenisation of our roads, railways, airports, energy and ICT infrastructure will be accelerated. This must however be in sync with our domestic realities as well as the on-going quest by SADC and Africa as a whole, for enhanced connectivity and integrated infrastructure.

The tourism sector continues to make notable improvements. There is need, however, to improve tourism infrastructure, product range, quality and pricing of our products to make them more competitive. Stakeholders in this sector are encouraged to leverage on partnerships with other successful tourist destinations in the region, to jointly market products available in our country.

Cities such as Bulawayo are challenged to consider marketing the opportunities around ‘meeting and event tourism’, taking into account the presence of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair facilities.

Continued next page

(1013 VIEWS)