ZIDA secures Singapore partnership

Harare (New Ziana) – In pursuit of its quest to transform Zimbabwe into a premier investment destination, the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) on Wednesday tied up a cooperation agreement with the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) to tap into Singapore’s renowned experience in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The SCE was set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore in 2006 to respond effectively to the multitude of foreign requests interested in Singapore’s development experience.

Singapore is the 5th largest recipient of FDI inflows in the world, after the United States, China, the Netherlands and Hong Kong and according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2020, FDI inflows into Singapore rose to USD 92 billion in 2019, from USD 79 billion a year earlier.

Singapore has based its economic development on a proactive strategy to attract FDI using its trade openness, a simple regulatory system, tax incentives, and high-quality industrial real estate among other perks.

It is such experience that ZIDA is hoping to tap from, chief executive officer Doug Munatsi said.

“This dovetails with ZIDA’s mission which is to mobilise private capital to leapfrog Zimbabwe to a leading upper income Sub Saharan economy by 2030, it is therefore our intention to learn as much as we can from Singapore in repositioning Zimbabwe as a premier investment destination in the region,” he said.

“To achieve this, the path we must travel is nothing short of transformational, we are ambitious, we are hungry and we believe that we will achieve our ambition within the timeframe that we are setting ours.”

Singapore is also a major investor abroad, FDI outflows stood at USD 33 billion in 2019.

The country has sought to diversify its investment beyond its traditional target markets in Asia, namely China, India and Vietnam in recent years.

“It is a historic day in the short life of ZIDA as we march towards the journey of becoming a leading investment promotion agency and it marks the first step that we call an apprenticeship with the best in the game,” Munatsi said.

Zimbabwe has, since 2017, instituted wide reforms to attract investment, especially FDI.

Some of the reforms include scrapping the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and operationalising Special Economic Zones.
New Ziana