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–The Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has appealed to the business community in Singapore to support Zambia’s industrialisation policy focused on developing rural areas.
CEEC Director General, Likando Mukumbuta, says Zambia is endowed with abundant natural resources in the rural areas spread across the ten provinces that require the support of foreign investors to harness their potential.
Mr Mukumbuta, who is in the Zambian delegation attending the 2014 Africa Singapore Business Forum in Singapore, told members of the Singapore Business Federation during a Roundtable meeting today that there is a lot of investment potential in Zambia’s rural areas that requires to be harnessed.
He, however, noted that the Zambian rural economy requires support by way of joint ventures in order to harness value from the natural resources which in turn would create jobs for the local people.
“Zambia is endowed with natural resources including hardwood timber in rural areas where we see a lot of potential in this area to work with Singapore through skills development and technology transfer,” he said.
Mr Mukumbuta also explained that the industrialisation policy embarked upon by the Zambia government through the creation of development clusters at the district level was cardinal to job creation and that a lot could be achieved if the Singapore business community cooperated in this area following its vast experience in poverty reduction strategies that have created equity in its society.
The CEEC is also optimistic that foreign investment in the rural industrial clusters will result into beneficiation in the value chain of products which Zambia would eventually target to export to the vast market in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Earlier, Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Director General, Patrick Chisanga, explained the role of the Agency in the promotion of foreign investment to the business community in Singapore.
Mr Chisanga said through the ZDA, Singapore investors will be exposed to the various sectors of the economy that require development, particularly in mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing with vast potential for further exploration.
