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Zim open to FDI — Chinamasa

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ZIMBABWE is open to foreign direct investment (FDI) from anywhere in the world and is ready to re-integrate into the global economy, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.

ZIMBABWE is open to foreign direct investment (FDI) from anywhere in the world and is ready to re-integrate into the global economy, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.

Business Reporter

Speaking at a Sapes Trust conference on Monday, Chinamasa said the country was eager to forge new business partnerships and opportunities while consolidating old ones.

“Zimbabwe is open to foreign direct investment from all nations of the world, be they in the North, South, East or West,” he said.

“The business partnerships we forge must be without preconditions. FDI will hopefully bring into our country capital, technology and the much-needed managerial skills.”

The call by Chinamasa comes at a time when the government is struggling to get funding to grow the economy and in the face of serious liquidity challenges.

Zimbabwe’s FDI is still below $1 billion annually as the country is failing to attract investors largely due to policy inconsistencies and lack of clarity on the indigenisation law.

FDI started off at $65 million in 2009 when the country adopted the multicurrency system and stood at $400 million last year. The figure is way below many other countries in the region that were recording over $1 billion in FDI.

Chinamasa said the country no longer wanted a confrontational approach and was looking for mutually beneficial economic relationships.

“We are too small a country to pursue a policy of confrontation. Sanctions are one of many strategies in a policy of confrontation. Sanctions dignify what is termed in military terms low-intensity warfare,” he said.

He said government was working towards creating a conducive business climate and that’s why it was clarifying the indigenisation law.

The two-day Sapes conference which ended yesterday ran under the theme Zimbabwe Going Forward — Consolidating the Democratisation Process and Reinforcing Re-engagement with the Global Community.

Recently Chinamasa said a one-size-fits-all approach would not be applied in the implementation of indigenisation law.

He said investors would be invited to participate in power generation and development of road and rail networks, water and irrigation infrastructure and information technologies.