Zambia Manufactures of Association – ZAM president Ezekiel Sekele said the association is ready to work with its members to realize the dream of producing local products that are fit for purpose and are complaint to the obtaining standards.
He added that the need to attract and incentivize the existing investors is critical and urgent through enhancing the level of participation of local investors. Sekele has since urged all local manufacturers to actively promote the domestic enterprise and reshape the mindsets towards “Thinking Local First” and “buy quality guaranteed local products”.
And Minister of Trade and Industry Christopher Yaluma has disclosed that the contribution of the manufacturing sector towards the country’s growth has for the past few years remained stagnant at about 8% hence the need for building the manufacturing sector in order to achieve economic sustainable development.
The minister has explained that the low contribution from the manufacturing sector is due to factors such as currency volatility, intermittent power supply and increasing commodity costs.
Speaking at the launch of the “Buy Local” manufactures expo in Lusaka on November 13, 2019, Yaluma further said that the country’s dependence on the copper industry has also made the economy vulnerable to commodity price fluctuations hence encouraging the diversification of the economy to sectors such as transportation, Tourism and Agriculture.
Yaluma further said despite the fact that the manufacturing sector has experienced some period of stagnant contributions to GDP over the last few years, the sector has remained resilient and survived through very challenging periods.
He added that he is happy to note the improvement made in the marketing, packaging and the quality of products being produced in order to deliver finished goods that are competitive on the domestic and regional market.
“Government has created and is committed to creating even a more conducive business environment to support faster growth in the manufacturing sector. I am aware of challenges local manufactures face in enhancing the productivity and competiveness of their products, however we will remain vigilant in addressing such constraints,” he said.
