The New Dawn Government has embarked on business regulatory reforms aimed at reducing the cost of doing business, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Chipoka Mulenga has said.
Mr. Mulenga said the Zambian Government is determined to attract foreign investors that will help build business portfolios of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships.
Speaking when he addressed a ministerial meeting at the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum in Istanbul, Mr. Mulenga said Government is working towards creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and to enable SMEs compete favourably at international level.
The Ministerial meeting was co- chaired by Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, Dr. Mehmet Mus and African Union (AU) Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining, Ambassador Albert Muchanga.
“We are focusing on trade and investment in our international engagements with foreign investors whom we consider to be our greatest trading partners. And these reforms that we have done is to make sure that the mode of doing business in Zambia is done at the lowest cost. To achieve this, we want to do it with all of our neighbouring countries,” Mr Mulenga said.
He said Government is taking advantage of Zambia’s land-linked geographical position to transform the country into an investment, mining, agriculture and tourism hub.
“But to achieve this we need to improve our infrastructure, we need to improve our technology, we need to improve our skills transfer. We need highly industrialised countries that are willing to come and partner with us to improve our portfolio in many sectors. This should be done on a win-win situation and Turkey is one of the countries that we are looking forward to investing in and partnering with us in developing our country,” Mr Mulenga said.
He also told the Ministerial Meeting that Government had created Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development in order to create wealth for Zambians and to trigger economic growth.
“We cannot neglect the power that Turkey possesses in helping us develop our SMEs to a level where we can compete on an international platform. So, we look forward to investment from Turkey and this investment is where we are going to tap in knowledge and skills transfer,” Mr Mulenga said.
On the sidelines of the Turkey Africa Business and Economic Forum, Mr Mulenga held bilateral meetings with Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Assoction (MUSIAD) Vice President Davut Altunbas and Africa Business Council president, Dr. Amany Asfour.
