The chamber of commerce in North western province has welcomed the creation of the ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development by President Hakainde Hichilema.
Chamber president Mukumbi Kafuta said in an interview that the creation of the ministry which will be basically be responsible for facilitating the creation and growth of SMEs is well thought of.
Mr. Kafuta said the creation of the ministry is a clear demonstration of President Hichilema’s recognition of SMEs who are the largest economic players of the country.
He said the move will give stakeholders an opportunity to quickly engage the minister in charge understand government’s vision towards transforming the SME sector.
“Therefore, the coming up of this ministry is very strategic and deliberate in giving the SME sector focused attention to create a conducive business environment that would allow SMEs to thrive and participate meaningfully across all sectors of the economy, ” said Mr. Kafuta.
He has advised government to come up with and enact policies that would be tailored towards local content procurement system and empowering of SMEs through financing of their projects if the SMEs are expossed to benefit from the new ministry.
“And that is where we want to see a well designed value chain especially in agriculture, processing, manufacturing, transportation, trade among other sectors of the economy, where SMEs should be the major players and key creators of wealth, jobs and generation of foreign exchange, “he said.
Yesterday during the swearing in ceremony for new ministers, President Hichilema announced the creation of the new ministry and appointed Elias Mubanga as minister in charge.
