Timberland exports to Botswana

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A BULAWAYO-BASED firm, Timberland Windows and Doors (Pvt) Ltd, has started exporting products to Botswana following the collapse of the local consumer base, an official said yesterday.

A BULAWAYO-BASED firm, Timberland Windows and Doors (Pvt) Ltd, has started exporting products to Botswana following the collapse of the local consumer base, an official said yesterday. OWN CORRESPONDENT

Timberland managing director Terence Hewitt, told Southern Eye Business that Botswana was one of the biggest markets in the region they would want to explore.

“We have a lot of exports to Botswana and our products are doing well there because of high quality,” Hewitt said, adding they had managed to retain their loyal local customers.

“Business in Zimbabwe at the moment is very tight and challenging. Our customers have put on hold their projects because of liquidity crunch. However, even though it’s tight, we will never close the firm and we are looking forward to see things starting to pick-up,” he added.

Hewitt said they used to export to South Africa before dollarisation in 2009, but ceased due to certain costs.

He said his company was operating at below 50% capacity utilisation, but that did not mean they should relocate to other cities in Zimbabwe or close shop like what other companies have done in the past few years.

He, however, challenged companies that had relocated to Harare and other cities saying that would not solve their problems.

“Bulawayo is far from dying and there are many reasons to do business here. There is good supply of skilled labour, hard-working people, no traffic jams among other benefits. Challenges we are having at the moment will make us clever not to kill us,” Hewitt said.

The firm has a workforce of more than 30 people.