Town clerk Christopher Dube said the enquiries came after
the local authority announced plans to set up a smart industrial park.
This is revealed in the latest council minutes when Dube
was explaining the criterion used by council to process expressions of interest
by foreign investors.
Dube said President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open
for business” mantra had ignited interest from foreign investors who want to
explore new investment opportunities in the country.
“The City of Bulawayo, like other local authorities, was
now inundated with foreign companies seeking investment opportunities in
various sectors of the economy,” read part of the minutes.
“These investors rightly expected that their expressions of
interest were processed timeously in line with the policy thrust that ‘Zimbabwe
is open for business,” the minutes read.
“However, the current processes or procedures that were
used to handle investors required that some investments on designated land
should go through the tender process to ensure transparency and reduce
incidents of corruption.
“This process had resulted in delays in processing
expressions of interest and in some cases cancellation of investment deals as
local authorities failed to conclude the deals within a reasonable period.”
The minutes revealed that in the past, when local
authorities were overwhelmed by unsolicited bids from companies looking for
investment opportunities, the government had directed that each council should
advertise a prospectus including all development, service delivery and
partnership opportunities.
“In view of the foregoing, it was critical that council
designed a policy or procedure guidelines that would enable management to
process expressions of interest from foreign investors in the spirit of ease of
doing business,” the minutes added. “This would ensure that all foreign
investment expressions of interest were processed and concluded within a
reasonable period.”
The council then resolved that the local authority be
allowed to follow up on the proposed guidelines in processing expressions of
interest from foreign investors as and when they are received.
Council’s economic development officer Kholisani Moyo
recently said the city was targeting the health sector, solar systems at
clinics and conversion of solid waste to energy and medical tourism. Newsday
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