NEW YEARS EVE MESSAGE : PRESIDENT MR. MICHAEL CHILUFYA SATA

Fellow country men, women and the youth,

as I address you on this new year’s eve, I would like to thank the almighty god for his continued blessings and mercy upon us. I would also like to thank the people of Zambia for their continued support to government and for maintaining peace and unity.

Fellow citizens,

after two years of the patriotic front in office, it is imperative for us to reiterate the goal of our government to accelerate progress in closing development gaps between our brothers and sisters in rural and urban areas, thus creating better opportunities for all.

Looking up to the year 2014, we can confidently state that our government will accelerate the implementation of various programmes such as the rural electrification programme whose focus is to connect rural communities to the power grid. We will also commence an extension programme of mobile communications services to cover previously un-serviced rural areas in order to improve the people’s living standards.

Our government further commits to boost access to affordable financial services in the rural areas to promote the development of small scale rural industries and improve agricultural production. In the same vein, we are determined to decentralize functions in our local government system to promote citizen participation and effective delivery of services in order to alleviate poverty.

Fellow citizens,

in the social sector, our government has placed a high priority on education and vocational skills development of our youths as well as providing more Zambians access to quality health care services in order to create a better Zambia for all.

In this regard, our government will in 2014 increase investment in the construction of schools, universities and trades institutes as well as the building and rehabilitation of health infrastructure across the country.

Fellow citizens,

employment creation remains our government’s top most strategy for ensuring the stability of society and overall growth of the economy.

To this effect, our government will in the New Year establish the industrial development corporation which will focus on developing labour intensive industries and enterprises in the key areas of agriculture, construction, manufacturing, tourism, science and technology.

In addition, our government will continue to promote an open economy in order to attract investment and expand our country’s export opportunities through the accelerated development of multi facility economic zones and thus create jobs.

Furthermore, steady progress is being made in infrastructure development such as roads, airports, rail and hydro power stations in order to favourably compete in the global economy and create jobs.

We are determined to revolutionise the infrastructure sector thus opening up this country in an unprecedented manner, thereby create a competitive business environment and maximize economic growth activities.

Fellow citizens,
social justice will continue to be at the core of our government’s policies. Our government is determined to take a giant step forward to raise our people’s incomes, consumption and living standards.

In 2014, we will continue to strengthen and uphold our democracy and good governance credentials as they are essential for national development.

lastly, the fight against corruption remains one of the top priorities of my government’s good governance agenda for next year and beyond.

let 2014 be a brighter and better year, because this is the year of our golden jubilee.

I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.

I thank you.