Government has urged the Zambia
Development Agency (ZDA) to step up its efforts in creating
jobs for the Zambian people and to support Government
efforts in promoting industrialisation and the empowerment
programme.
Speaking when she met the Board of Directors and
Management at the Agency yesterday, Minister of Commerce
Trade and Industry, Mrs Margaret Mwanakatwe,
commended management and the board for their
determination in promoting growth and development and
appealed to the Agency to work even harder despite facing
some challenges that affect business development and the
operations of the Agency.
“Telling the story the way you are is good but you need to do
more. Don’t be despondent. You are working so much with
so little and working pretty hard, “she said.
The minister pledged to support the ZDA to enhance its
activities and committed to take the ZDA Act to Parliament in
order to address some of the gaps that that have affected
enterprise development and local and foreign investment in
recent times.
Mrs Mwanakatwe said it was the duty of ZDA to ensure that
Zambians participated in business by owning bakeries and
filling stations. She was happy to note that some local
products were being sold in Shoprite, Spur and Melissa
Supermarket but said more needed to be done across the
board to ensure that more Zambians benefitted from large
investors.
She also said that ZDA should work very closely with the
Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) and
other institutions to deliver its services and empower the
people of Zambia in all districts.
Speaking earlier Board Chairman, Mr. Songowayo Zyambo,
said ZDA had a huge mandate to bring about Zambia’s
economic development but in order to have impact the
Agency would focus on monitoring investment projects,
facilitating and guiding investors to ensure their investment
is realized, undertake a decentralization programme to be
more accessible to the people and to encourage local and
foreign partnerships.
And the Director General Patrick Chisanga called on the
minister to support the Agency in order for it to deliver on
its mandate by making the incentive structure attractive and
maintaining policy consistency to create investor confidence.
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