Story by Stanley James, Business Editor
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) industrialisation roadmap is in motion as Zambia seeks partnerships with Zimbabwe on the standardisation of goods by emerging companies for regional exports.
A Zambian delegation comprising government officials, the private sector and SMEs representatives on a fact-finding mission of Zimbabwe’s emerging firms this Wednesday assessed modalities being implemented on local product certification standards for access to regional and global markets.
With the SADC industrialisation roadmap considering the SMEs sector as the engine for growth, representatives from the two economies discussed ways of cooperation to boost quality of products and promote trade.
Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) Director General Mr Cosmus Mukoyo said the institution is willing to cooperate with the northern neighbouring economy on product standards policy aimed at broadening the regional export market base.
“This is a great opportunity arising at a time when we have realised that the SMEs sector in Zimbabwe continues to grow, therefore the visit by the Zambians is an eye opener for us in identifying strategies being put in place by Zimbabwe to scale up business growth. This is really vital for us as we seek to foster business growth and focus on exports in the long term. The overall purpose is to unlock the value of goods in terms of standards and product specifications,” he said.
Empowering SMEs, business development and quality standards of goods and services are factors being cited as key to broadening the SADC market base for emerging businesses in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises in Zambia, Mrs Subeta Mutelo, said, “The entire aspect is to identify the key elements hindering growth the fact that they have come bears testimony of their intentions to work with Zimbabwe. Remember, they are also visiting the SMEs sites within the country to assess and see for themselves what is being done by Zimbabwe. Going forward the sustainability of industrial value chains is also critical as an underlying factor to boost the smooth flow of trade ties for the two economies.
“We stand ready to do all key aspects of cooperation taking into account the need to enhance trade with Zimbabwe. Basically, the SMEs are a vital cog to the overall development of the nation and as such, Zambia stands ready to assist this is in the spirit of the SADC trade development agenda, premised on increased cooperation, industrialisation, ease of doing business reforms and the need to foster growth in strategic industrial sectors that have a potential to create jobs and generate wealth to the respective governments.”
The SADC Industrialisation Strategy recognises quality goods as an important factor in the growth of the SMEs sector, with the Zambian delegation expressing interest to learn from Zimbabwe’s milestones in increasing exports within the region.
