The complete debate on why Zimbabwe MPs opposed the National Competitiveness Commission Bill

HON. MUNENGAMI:  Thank you Madam Speaker, for according me this opportunity to also add my voice.  Mine are questions which I need clarification from the Minister.

Minister, having looked at the Bill, I understand when the Commission is in place, it will also look at the quality of goods being produced by the manufacturing companies.  I understand obviously, you will be actually advocating for quality.  How are you going to reconcile the cheap imports that are coming into the country and the high quality that is going to be produced if the Commission is in place?  When people will actually be purchasing the cheap quality goods are they not going to lose business?

The other issue that I also need clarification from the Minister is about the labour issue.  Having looked at our current Labour Act, there are still worries in terms of the labour issue whereby, they are saying it is still expensive.  How do you intend to do away with that problem because it also adds to quality and it has to have something to do with the issue of cost?

The last one which I also need clarification on is about the raw materials.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Member.  Hon. Members at the back there, you are having a meeting?  I can hear your voices from here.  If you cannot lower your voice please, go to the lobby.  Order Hon. Mliswa.  That is my duty.

HON. MUNENGAMI:  Thank you Madam Speaker, I was talking about the raw materials.  How do you intend the Commission to look at the availability of raw materials?  Those are some of the things that are coming from other Ministries which also need to be regulated and for the prices maybe, to go down or the availability of such, at the end, to come up with a high quality product.  With those four issues, Madam Speaker, I thank you.

HON. DR. MASHAKADA:  Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity to try and refine the Minister’s thought process and maybe giving more ammunition as he looks at the Bill.

Madam Speaker, let me thank the Minister for tabling the Bill, but I also wish to raise the following issues.  The first issue is that of competitiveness.  Competitiveness is all about the cost structure of a country and competitiveness is so broad as I think colleges who have contributed have demonstrated.  It is a very broad issue and my fear is that the Bill focuses on the supply side of the competitiveness issue, yet there are so many other issues which impact on competitiveness.  There are demand issues, there are fiscal policy issues, there are monetary policy issues and there are structural issues.

There are institutional issues that impact negatively on competitiveness.  But the way the Bill is structured, it would appear it is more concerned about the pricing structure, as measured by the consumer price index or the producer price index monitoring the level of prices in the economy and so on and so forth. The Bill focuses on what I call issues to do with internal devaluation, the pricing level, the wage levels and how that impacts on the pricing model in the economy. As I said before, competitiveness is affected by so many things that might go beyond the scope of this Bill. My colleagues have talked about infrastructure, the cost of electricity, water, roads, rail services and all that impacting on competitiveness.

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