There is the ease of doing business which is also affecting the competitiveness of our companies because there are a lot of costs built in the process of trying to form a business and operate a business. At the end of the day, it will affect the price model by economic players or economic entities. Therefore, the way the Bill is structured, it concentrates on the supply side yet the nature of competitiveness is quite broader. For it to succeed, it has to explore the other bigger scope that I have alluded to.
For example, there is a question of fiscal policy. The import duty structure on its own can really affect the pricing model. That is a fiscal issue which does not necessarily fall under the province of the Ministry. There is the monetary issue. Right now we have got bond notes. If you want to get foreign currency, you have to do a transfer in the bank and those who supply the foreign currency have to put 20% as commission for you to get foreign currency from those people with bond notes. That again affects the price structure.
In my respective view, the issue of competitiveness requires social contract. It requires labour, business and Government at a higher level than just at a ministerial level to tackle all these issues, some which might even be political. So, you need tripatism, the Tripartite Negotiating Forum elevated to a social contract arrangement to deal with all the multiplicity of issues that impact on competitiveness, and not just supply side issues or narrow pricing issues as they affect the prices of goods in the economy.
So, I submit that the Minister might need to consult his counterparts in the Ministry of Labour and also other stakeholders to come up with a viable vehicle to foster competitiveness in the economy. This is because the way it is structured, I do not think it will do the trick because it will end up being narrow and its mandate will not cover all these other broader fiscal monetary, political, institutional and structural issues that I have mentioned, which nevertheless have an impact on competitiveness. Thank you.
HON. T. KHUMALO: Thank you Madam Speaker. First of all I would like to thank you as the Speaker’s panel and the Speaker of this House for responding to the health issues of these Members of Parliament by changing this carpet. I am honestly humbled. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]-
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. DZIVA): Thank you.
HON. T. KHUMALO: Having said that Madam Speaker, at least now I can breathe and talk. I am also standing up opposing this Bill for the following reasons. One of our greatest challenges in this country is that we always want to address symptoms of problems, not causes. If we start addressing symptoms, we are not going to correct that problem because we are not dealing with the core problem. We are dealing with lembilaphi and that will not work. As far as I am concerned, what the Minister is trying to do is trying to create a fiefdom for himself and his cronies at the expense of Zimbabweans.
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