INDIA has urged the Zimbabwean government to implement
policies that attract investment, saying President Emerson Mnangagwa’s
“Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra is not enough to lure foreign investors.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the on-going
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) annual congress in Bulawayo, Indian
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Rungsung Masakui, said government needed to do more to
attract investors.
“The perception about the Zimbabwean business environment
is changing very fast. Let me tell you very frankly, when Indian businesspeople
come here, they are very impressed with the people. The people are good, the
environment is good, the weather is good. I think they love the country,”
Masakui said.
“But when it comes to business, it’s about the conducive
environment of business, whether it is easy to do business here. You are
talking of ease of doing business. The government has taken serious steps and measures
to correct it and make the environment much more conducive. So it all depends
on the policy of the government.”
He said they had been appealing to government to make the
business environment more conducive.
“By just saying Zimbabwe is open for business alone does
not bring in businesses from across the world to come and do business here. But
it has to be supported by action, which is correction of the policies,” Masakui
said.
Since taking over as President, first in November last year
following the forced resignation of former President Robert Mugabe, and after
winning the July 30 elections, Mnangagwa has been running with the mantra that
“Zimbabwe is open for business” and calling on Western businesses to invest in
the country.
Government is also working on setting up a one-stop centre,
which will facilitate all business applications under one roof instead of
sending investors from one ministry to the other. Newsday
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