ZIMTRADE has urged local companies to explore the Zambian market as a way of boosting their sales volumes.
OWN CORRESPONDENT
In its weekly bulletin, ZimTrade said the Zambian market has opportunities in sectors of processed foods; mining equipment and supplies among other sectors, hence companies should not hesitate to tap into them.
“The Zambian market has opportunities in sectors (such as) processed foods; mining equipment and supplies; household and electrical goods; hardware, building and construction materials; agricultural equipment and supplies,” part of the ZimTrade newsletter reads.
“In view of the above, ZimTrade is urging local companies to utilise this opportunity to access the Zambian market.”
According to ZimTrade, Zimbabwe is currently exporting products such as fertilisers, coal, packaging material, tobacco, fish, wood, furniture and tea to Zambia.
During this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair held last month in Bulawayo, ZimTrade hosted an export awareness seminar aimed at promoting available trade opportunities in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). ZimTrade also said the Zimbabwean companies should take the advantage of the 88th Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show which will be held in Lusaka from July 30 to August 4 2014.
The show will be held under the theme, “Breaking New Ground and Commemorating Zambia’s 50 Years of Independence”.
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It will also focus on the latest developments in the commercial and agricultural fields including, but not limited to financial aspects, ICT, machinery, animal production, fish farming, veterinary and foods industries, education, cultural exchange, investment opportunities as well as business deals.
Last year, about 1 000 Zambian and foreign companies participated in the show. Of these, 80 companies represented 18 countries.
Trade between Zimbabwe and Zambia is based on the multi-lateral Sadc and Comesa trade agreements as both countries are members of these regional trade blocs.
A recent ZimTrade survey revealed that 60% of Zimbabwe’s manufacturing companies were not exporting their products due to inferior quality.
The survey also revealed that about 71,4% of companies that used to export five to 10 years ago, had stopped exporting due to various reasons, among them hassles of the exporting process, poor quality of products, high costs of production, restrictive labour regulations, lack of export incentives and support services.
