Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma said
Zimbabwe would need at least US$1 billion for the next 10 months to
revive its ailing industry, currently operating at below 10 percent of
its installed capacity.
The target is to raise capacity utilisation to around 60 percent by
the end of 2009.
Mangoma, who is one of the opposition officials appointed to
Zimbabwe's unity government in February, pleaded with the South
African private sector to avail credit lines to capitalise Harare's
manufacturing sector.
Zimbabwe will be able to repay these loans with proceeds from exports
of cotton, tobacco, horticulture, gold, platinum, remittances and
receipts from tourism, he said during a meeting with South African
businesspeople last week.
He said Zimbabwe was also making concerted efforts to attract foreign
direct investment and anticipated that such efforts would bear fruit
and generate enough foreign currency to assist in the repayment of the
lines of credit.
Mangoma pledged the Zimbabwe government's commitment to respect
existing and future investment protection agreements with other
countries.
He said Zimbabwe was ready to finalise a Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) reached with South Africa
in the 1990s but yet to be signed by the two government.
The preparedness of Zimbabwe to quickly sign this BIPPA is an
indication of its readiness to welcome South African investors into
Zimbabwe, Mangoma said.
Foreign investors and multilateral financial institutions deserted
Zimbabwe in 2000 following the introduction of a controversial land
reform programme by President Robert Mugabe.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Zimbabwe has declined from a peak
of more than US$444 million in 1998 to less than US$20 million last
year.
The lack of foreign currency in the country during the past few years
has made investment even less attractive because of the
near-impossibility of converting earnings out of the rapidly
depreciating Zimbabwe dollar due to government restrictions.
The suspension of International Monetary Fund (IMF) support in 1999 –
with its negative implications about the credit-worthiness of the
country – has limited most of Zimbabwe's business transactions with
outsiders to a cash basis.
Post published in: News