GOVERNMENT in partnership with the European Union is working towards the establishment of the Zimbabwe European Business Information Centre (ZIM-EBIC) to increase the capacity of Zimbabwean exporters to the EU bloc.
TARISAI MANDIZHA BUSINESS REPORTER
This development follows the launch of the €3 million facility in February by the EU to support the trade and private sector development programme in Zimbabwe ZimTrade chief executive officer Sithembile Pilime said the initiative was expected to reposition and strengthen ZimTrade‘s role as the national trade development and export promotion entity that provides a high quality client needs driven trade information to the Zimbabwe export sector among other services.
“The facility aims at increasing the capacity of Zimbabwean exporters to the EU existing and potential to establish mutually beneficial linkages with their European counterparts,” she said.
“The facility is part of a bigger project on capacity building for ZimTrade through upgrading the Trade Information Centre, redesigning the ZimTrade website, training ZimTrade staff and reviewing the export marketing training programme that imparts relevant skills particularly to emerging SME exports.”
ZIM-EBIC is set to be launched in Harare on Friday by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Mike Bimha and the head of the European Union delegation in Zimbabwe Aldo Dell Ariccia.
Pilime said the ZIM-EBIC would be housed within ZimTrade to form an integral part of the Trade Information Centre.
She said the ZIM-EBIC platform will also enhance knowledge sharing on thematic areas such as EU marketing intelligence, EU business cultures communication, and EU trade fair among others.
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She, however, said the ZIM-EBIC platform would be implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) from Geneva given the experience and expertise they have in the field of trade development.
“ZimTrade will leverage on this ITC knowledge resource to build internal capacity to better service our clients and ensure sustainability beyond the project tenure,” she said.
She added that ZimTrade was optimistic that ZIM-EBIC would lead to the transformation of its Trade Information Centre.
