Zambia Export Development Fund (ZEDF) through the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) hosted an inception consultative workshop on the operationalization of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ZDA/ZEDF and the World Sustainability Organisation (WSO) based in Italy.
The signing of the MoU was facilitated by the Zambian Mission in Rome, Italy. The Fund engaged various stakeholders and representatives from government and it’s agencies, the private sector groups and cooperating and strategic partners to consult on how they expect the MoU to respond to the needs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), businesses and industry.
Speaking when he officially opened the workshop, ZDA Acting Director General Albert Halwampa in a speech read for him by the ZEDF Fund Manager, Dr. David Chewe, said the MoU seeks to among other areas proactively create conditions that enhance the competitiveness of Zambian products and services, by providing world class certifications, sustainable business practices and contribution towards promoting an eco-friendly environment.
Mr. Halwampa said having Zambian products and services with world class certifications not only guarantees Zambian products’ accessibility across the globe, but also makes the economy marketable in terms of what Zambian companies are able to offer competitively.
“It is therefore, imperative that all representatives of stakeholder groups invited to this workshop participate and make meaningful contributions towards the success of this initiative,” urged Mr. Halwampa.
He added that government places a premium on the increased contribution of non-traditional exports to Zambia’s economic development, gross domestic product (GDP), forex earnings and jobs.
So some people flew to Italy to sign an MOU with an NGO like Friends of Earth wasting taxpayers money?
Even if you get classifications you still need to access those markets..