Story by Memory Chamisa

THE Government says it is engaging key stakeholders intending to establish a small to medium enterprises production machinery and equipment facility that supports viable SMEs.

As the government continues to support small to medium enterprises, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development has revealed its plan to engage the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to set up a foreign currency revolving loan facility to assist micro-small to medium enterprises to procure machinery.

Briefing the Media on the recent visit to India in Harare this Friday, the Permanent Secretary Mr Moses Mhike revealed the key takeaways.

“The visit was to identify possible suppliers of small-scale production machinery and equipment. Thus also culminated in us facilitating various business engagements between local SMEs and Indian SMEs in areas of business development and supply of production machinery and equipment,” he said.

“We visited over 17 companies that manufacture a diverse range of small-scale production and equipment from beekeeping, light engineering, sanitary and tissue making machines, gold mining and processing to mention but a few. Of interest is how all this machinery is being designed and made by SMEs.

Mr Mhike also applauded the bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and India, especially on technology and innovation.

“In India, we had key takeaways as we learnt that India has numerous local suppliers of machinery that support easy access to the latest technology by small Enterprises which if adopted in Zimbabwe will go a long way in retooling and equipping the MSMES sector.

“Partnerships between Zimbabwean and Indian MSMEs manufacturing small-scale machines and equipment including solar modules, agro-processing equipment, packaging equipment and mineral processing technology have the potential to facilitate technology transfer.

“Such partnerships between large corporates and communities are a powerful tool to empower the disadvantaged and provide livelihoods. It is also imperative that Zimbabwe engages the strong Indian business culture of passing leadership from one generation to the other among local enterprises,” said the Permanent Secretary.

Statistics indicate that SMEs contribute about 50 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product as it promotes innovations and dynamism.