Government says its role is not only to do business but also to provide a good and conducive environment for conducting business and
investment.
Speaking when the 18 member Malaysian delegation that is in the country to look at
investment opportunities paid a courtesy call on him today, Minister of Finance and
National Planning Ng’andu Magande said the role of government through his ministry
is to identify potential sectors for investment and potential investors.
Mr. Magande said the current environment in the country is right for more productive
activities such as investment.
He said Zambia’s economy is performing well after most of the debt was written off
adding that only $625 million remains as sovereign debt.
He noted that his ministry is working towards tightening management to ensure that
the economy continues to perform well.
And delegation leader Siew Soong Hoong said there is need to develop the small and
medium enterprises as they form a core for a country’s ecomomic development.
Mr. Soong said the small and medium enterprises are source of various resources for
other bigger enterprises.
He also encouraged Zambia to increase its quality and yield of agriculture produce
to bring in more income for development.
He added that his country has 35 years of experience of manufacturing saying
Malaysia has machinery and technology that can used to assist Zambia develop its
manufacturing industry.
ZANIS
Will there ever be a time when Zambia will start looking to have local investors? I think its high time the goverment of Zambia change the trend. They should not always look beyond the boders of Zambia for investors. Let the goverment of Zambia and its people take the much talked about “condusive enviroment” for investment as a challenge for local investors otherwise Zambia will not benefit much out of this investment oppotunities. We should be mindful that some, govermemts like the Chinesse goverment,does not tolerate foreign investment in the country because they know the consequences that comes along with foreign investment.When we say we have a lot to learn from china these are some of the things we can learn. The benefits of encouraging local investors can not be over emphasised. Therefor,the govermen should first think of a local investor before they can look elsewhere.Let us have confidence in ourselves otherwise we shall not attain any economical independence.