
He said this while officially opening the second phase of
Varun Beverages’ manufacturing plant installed at a cost of US$20 million in
Harare.
Varun Beverages is the world’s second largest franchise
(outside the US) of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages sold
under trademarks owned by PepsiCo.
It produces many brands such as Pepsi, Mirinda, Mountain
Dew, Sting and Seven-Up among others.
President Mnangagwa said to demonstrate Government’s
determination to improve the ease of doing business, Senate passed the Zimbabwe
Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) Bill this week.
The ZIDA Bill seeks to streamline and simplify investment
procedures in the country through the creation of a one-stop investment centre. It is part of a raft of reforms being implemented to ease
investment processes in the country.
President Mnangagwa said Government would continue opening
up the economy for investors.
“We are moving in the right direction by opening up and
allowing protection of investments in Zimbabwe and creating economic space for
business to thrive and those who have talent among us should be allowed to
exercise that talent.
“This investment feeds into our national Vision 2030 and
complements milestones committed in the 2020 national budget, gearing for
higher productivity, growth and job creation, especially for women and youth,”
said President Mnangagwa.
He commended Varun Beverages for the confidence it had
shown in the country through continued investments.
“In 2018, I commissioned a US$30 million bottling plant and
today, I congratulate and applaud Varun Beverages, for establishing yet another
state-of-the-art plant and additional production lines with a total (value) of
US$20 million.
“This additional investment shows the continued trust and
confidence Varun has in doing business in Zimbabwe. My Government will continue
to create an enabling environment to ease the convenience and cost of doing
business and ensure that the country is a safe, attractive and competitive
investment destination.
“This drive is already bearing fruits with the World Bank
acknowledging Zimbabwe as one of the top global improvers in 2019.”
The World Bank named Zimbabwe as one of the “top 20
improvers” in Doing Business 2020 following key regulatory improvements in five
areas, which include starting a business.
“As such, the long awaited ZIDA Bill was passed by
Parliament on Wednesday this week. This will go a long way in facilitating
investment and the frameworks contained therein are aimed at increasing the
convenience of those who would want to invest across all sectors,” said
President Mnangagwa.
He urged local businesses to take advantage of Government’s
engagement and re-engagement policy to find partners who were eager to invest
in Zimbabwe.
It was pleasing that Varun Beverages had embraced the
import substitution and local content policies as it produced for local and
international markets.
The President called upon the company to fully exploit
opportunities availed by the devolution policy which Government is
implementing.
“I call upon you and other investors to take advantage of
Zimbabwe’s geo-strategic location to develop vibrant export strategies. Sadc,
Comesa and the African Continental Free Trade Area are markets which Zimbabwean
produced products must have a strong presence.”
Speaking at the same occasion, Varun Beverages chairman Mr
Ravi Jaipuria said they had added three production lines with the new
investment.
“We are very happy to announce that we added three
production lines besides the first PET (polyethylene terephthalate) line,” Mr
Jaipuria said.
“The additional line with 600 bottles per minute capacity,
can line with the 400 cans per minute capacity and husky line to ensure
backward integration to reduce foreign currency requirement by reducing import
value by conversion of resin to preform in-house using husky plant.”
He added that his company employed over 1 000 people while
1 500 women had been empowered through allocation of vending trollies.
“There are 20 000 retailers and vendors who get Pepsi
products across Zimbabwe. The happy 22 000 families get benefit directly and
indirectly from Varun Beverages.”
Varun Beverages has
become the biggest beverages supplier in the Zimbabwean market, with a strong
presence in the remotest parts of the country. Herald
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