The ZNCC, in a paper submitted to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce, indicated that Zimbabwean companies were suffering from the influx of cheap imported goods.
Emphasis, it read, should be on value addition and local production to create jobs.
Some economists indicate that viable markets should have about 70 per cent of their consumer products supplied by local producers. The Zimbabwean market, however, is flooded with cheap foreign goods, which has in turn affected the performance of industry.
“We call for industrial policy…to look at the whole value chain and support feed sectors into the industry, particularly agriculture, to ensure availability of inputs to the industry,” said the ZNCC.
“Whereas protectionism may not be right for regional integration, the ministers responsible for commerce and finance [should] introduce smart tariffs to restrict all unwarranted manufactured imports,” said the ZNCC, adding that with food imports of unknown quality, it was imperative that regulators such as SAZ (Standard Association of Zimbabwe) and the Food and Drug Control Council should be highly active.
Post published in: News