PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has urged Industry and Commerce leaders to embrace Information and Communications Technology (ICT), which should cascade to other sectors of the economy to promote ease of business and competitiveness.
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Mnangagwa made the call while addressing the CEO Africa Round Table meeting in Victoria Falls yesterday. The two-day event is running the theme, “Zimbabwe is Open for Business: Agenda 2040”.
“I urge industry and commerce to take a leading role in easing the doing of business and enhancing competitiveness through innovative ICT solutions that simplify our daily management and administrative tasks,” he said.
Mnangagwa said all sectors of the economy should prioritise automation and mechanisation to improve capacity utilisation and production efficiencies.
“ICT solutions should, thus, cascade down to all sectors such as mining and agriculture which are the anchors of our economy. We should therefore, modernise and mechanise our agriculture, manufacturing, mining, tourism, transport and financial services sectors among others, to fully maximise the country’s productive potential,” he said.
Yesterday’s call by Mnangagwa comes a day after the launch of the national ICT policy on Wednesday which will support tech-innovation in the country by availing funding, sponsorship and mentorship to young innovators who can develop home grown ICT- solutions to grow the economy.
He said there was need to increase access to investment capital and adoption of new technologies ,adding his administration was working on ensuring that government policies were flexible.
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“I, therefore, exhort business, industry and commerce to design and position their strategies with regional and continental integration in mind. This will in-turn result in business growth by harnessing the Sadc, Comesa and continental market at large,” he said.
Mnangagwa said there was need to increase access to investment capital by aligning the financial sector to the need of the productive sector, adoption of new technologies and development of knowledge-based industries as well as promoting activities that can be undertaken by small to medium enterprises.
Mnangagwa said his government had zero tolerance to corruption, urging leaders in the public and private sectors to inculcate a culture of integrity, accountability, transparency and hard work.
The CEOs forum creates a platform for business networking and provides decision makers from multi-sectoral private and public institutions with an opportunity to dialogue on important current and future economic issues.
