Mugabe’s State of the Nation Address in full

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

I am pleased to note the tremendous progress achieved so far in accelerating the Ease of Doing Business, thereby promoting both domestic and foreign investment.  The recent promulgation of the Special Economic Zones Act should provide greater impetus to the country’s economic turnaround by facilitating foreign direct investment inflows, industrialisation, technology transfer, employment creation and increased export receipts.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

For the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) Social Partners, as a collective, time is ripe for them to vigorously pursue the Social Contract, as agreed in the Kadoma Declaration.  Investor friendly measures to boost confidence, productivity and competitiveness, should be strengthened, while the key tenets of good corporate governance and policy consistency are also vigorously pursued.  I therefore urge all the social partners, primarily Government, Business and Labour, to work together to reduce the cost of doing business.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

Tourism continues to experience tremendous growth and development.  During the first half of 2016, Zimbabwe recorded a total of 902 435 tourist arrivals, receiving a significant increase from Asia and America.   The average national room occupancy rate has marginally increased from 41per cent to 42 per cent.  By year end, it is forecast that Zimbabwe will record 2.5 million tourist arrivals, which contributes to the GDP per cent.  The peace and tranquillity that we enjoy as a country positively contributes to the success achieved in tourism.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

The Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Ministry plays a vital role in the growth of our economy.  Government capacitates this sector through training, infrastructure provision, marketing and the creation of linkages and entrepreneurship development.  In order to improve access to finance by SMEs and Cooperatives, Government approved the establishment of a microfinance bank under the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation.  The bank will be capitalised through the issuance of Treasury Bills valued at US$10 million.

Madame President, Mr Speaker Sir,

In pursuit of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, Government has, since Independence, introduced programmes to empower women economically, socially and politically.  To this end, we have put high on the agenda the establishment of a Women’s Micro-Finance bank.  This will assist women to establish and grow their business in the various sectors of our economy.   It is incumbent upon Government to ensure that funds are availed in order for the bank to be operational.

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