Industry and Commerce minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu has said government should stop overprotecting local companies against foreign products.
BY NUNURAI JENA
Speaking during a tour of firms in Norton on Wednesday, Ndlovu said locally-produced goods must successfully compete globally rather than rely on government protection.
“We also wish to assist our companies in retooling so that our products can be competitive in a global scale. But we cannot continue to rely on being overprotective; we need to rise up and be able to compete with our counterparts,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu got first-hand information about the challenges facing local companies and said information gathered during the visits will inform future policy formulation.
Company executives told Ndlovu that the shortage of foreign currency was hampering production.
Chairperson of Special Economic Zones and former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono said there was a lot of “dead capital in Norton, which needs to be resurrected”.
