Government adopted the Look East policy more than a decade ago after a fall out with western countries over the abuse of human rights, election rigging and a chaotic land reform which saw the economy nose-diving.
But local companies are complaining that Chinese products were not durable and say they have lost of badly as a result. Some have heaps of scraps of Chinese machinery in their mechanical workshops, which has either broken down and they failed to get back up spares or has failed to perform properly.
So they are now looking west. Recently, one the largest timber producers, Allied Timbers, procured a state of the art timber processing machine worth $1 million from a Germany company. The new sawmill, according to CEO Joseph Kanyekanye, has the capacity to produce timber worth $1 million every month for export and local consumption.
He said the machinery was durable and could perform better. “The Germans came here and assembled it for us and trained local technicians,” he said while touring the plant recently.
In another classic case of defying the Look East policy, a leading tea producer has acquired a blending and packaging plant worth $2,5 million from western countries. The financial director of Tanganda, Henry Nemaire, said the world class machinery was being shipped from Italy and Germany and would commissioned this month.
Speaking at a recent Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) stakeholders meeting, Nemaire said it was high time the country considered turning west.
Recently, Rusape Town Council acquired a Bell Backhole Loader to the tune of $84,000. Bell is a British company. “We opted for Bell product because of its durability. We procured it through their dealers in South Africa. Our service delivery is expected to improve significantly and we have a warrant and service back up,” said Rusape Town Secretary, Joshua Maligwa.
Mutare Bottling recently commissioned a New Returnable Glass Bottling Line $17 million plant supplied by an Italian company, Sidel SpA. It has the capacity to produce 1,250 cases per hour of 300 ml and 1 litre bottles.
Post published in: News