ON this column today, I feature an article by a guest writer. Enjoy the reading!
By JUDITH NAMUTOWE
THE Government has continued to score success in meeting its mandate of promoting trade and investment in Zambia.
This is evidenced by the growing number of both local and foreign investors that have continued to invest in all sectors of the economy in the country.
China is one of the major sources of these investors in Zambia having set up more than 280 business enterprises mainly in construction, mining and mineral processing, manufacturing, agriculture,
infrastructure development, tourism and resource extraction.
Projects include, the Chambeshi MFEZ and the Lusaka East MFEZ being developed by China Non-Ferous Metal Mining (Group), Zhongui mining with investment estimated at US$5.3 billion, Bank of China and China Henan Construction Company among others.
Although long distance exists between China and Zambia, traditional friendship between the two countries is deep.
With the joint efforts of Governments and enterprises from both countries, Zambia-China economic and trade cooperation has enjoyed rapid development and fruitful results have been achieved.
To date, China has invested more than US$2.1 billion in Zambia in areas of mining, agriculture, finance and light industry, hence Chinese investment in Zambia has formed an industrial system of
exploitation, smelting, processing and trade.
But despite Zambia being well endowed with an array of natural resources ranging from agricultural products to minerals, most of these resources have remained unexploited and are usually exported in
raw form.
The Zambian Government has recognized the inadequate capacity of the local manufacturing sector to add value to the raw materials due to low investment.
So, it is promoting value addition to Zambia’s natural resources through processing in Zones and cluster development in the country, which lead to sustainable economic growth, job creation and wealth creation.
The development would also lead to improved investor confidence and ultimately benefit Zambia through skills and technological transfer, increased Government revenue and increased joint venture
partnerships.
The major vehicle through which China is helping Zambia achieve that is the Zambia-China Cooperation Zone (ZCCZ) which is the first Chinese overseas economic and trade cooperation zone established in Africa.
It was established in 2007 with an investment of US$900 million under the framework of China-Africa Cooperation Forum.
About 26 Chinese and Zambian enterprises which settled in the Zones have paid nearly US$200 million to the Zambian Government in a form of taxes.
Recently ZCCZ hosted the first-ever Zambia International Construction Materials and Light Industries Products Trade Fair and Investment Forum at the Lusaka East MFEZ under the theme “Value Addition Through Zambia-China Economic Cooperation.”
ZCCZ managing director Baosen Zan hailed the country’s economic growth which has been attributed to the massive infrastructure development currently being undertaken in the local construction industry.
He said it was undisputed that Zambia’s economic growth was greatly accredited to the booming real estate and infrastructure development in the construction industry.
Mr Baosen said this was why ZCCZ decided to bring to the fair latest building materials that would benefit the local construction industry.
The fair which run from September 19 to 23, 2013 provided an opportunity to the local business community to have a wide exposure to various state-of-the-art products and meet manufacturers in person.
The fair also presented a unique opportunity for the booming Real Estate Industry in Zambia. It will further afford construction materials wholesalers, retailers and consumers alike an opportunity
to have access to rich and abundant types of construction material and industrial products with high quality on the world market.
More than 300 participants from Zambia, China, United Kingdom, Botswana, South Africa, India and Zimbabwe attended the Investment forum which was organised by ZCCZ, Zambia Development Agency b (ZDA) and the Ministry of Commerce.
A total of 90 enterprises participated and showcased their various products and services while the value of the scheduled orders was estimated at US$3,000,000 with the biggest business order being in heavy equipment sector.
A number of companies have since expressed interest to set up their presence in Zambia and in particular, Lusaka East MFEZ, among them Beijing Sunway and Jihai Agriculture who have since set up their operations in the zone.
The Zambia-China bilateral trade volume is expected to rise above the US$3.6 billion recorded in 2012, with the implementation of China’s offer to increase Zambia’s duty-free export to China to 95 per cent of its total export items.
China’s investments in Zambia have been on steady increase and about 500 Chinese companies, big or small have been set up in Zambia.
About US$2.6 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have been channeled into Zambia’s economy, creating more than 50,000 job opportunities.
The special economic Zones have played a crucial role in China’s industrialization and economic boom since opening and reform policies were initiated by late architect Deng Xiaopening in 1978.
It is hoped that using zones, Zambia will follow China’s path and record similar success in terms of economic development.
The southern African country could do as well as China has done, or even better, because it can draw on China’s experiences and avoid any mistakes.
For comments/other contributions call: 0955 431442, 0977 246099, 0964
742506 or e-mail: jmuyanwa@gmail.com.
Ends…
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