PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says the government shall review the mineral resources development policy in order to provide a favourable environment for increased investment in mining and downstream activities in Zambia.
He said this when he ceremonially opened the second session of the 13th National Assembly on Friday.
President Hichilema said his government is moving towards establishing market hubs for manganese to provide easy market for artisanal and small-scale miners.
“Government remains committed to addressing the challenges affecting the operations at Konkola and Mopani Copper Mines, and measures are being taken to safeguard jobs for our people and significantly turn around production around the two assets,” President Hichilema said.
“In an effort to provide a favourable environment for increased investment in mining and downstream activities, government shall review the mineral resources development policy, while positioning the sector to contribute towards our country’s economic transformation agenda.”
He further noted that the government recently launched the Public Private Dialogue Forum (PPDF), in a vigorous bid to strengthen partnerships with the private sector.
The President added that the Forum would also scale-up efforts to create an enabling environment for industrialisation and trade, jobs and wealth creation for Zambians.
“The Forum is a strategic platform for constructive engagement between government and the private sector to address critical sector-specific constraints to private sector development, and we urge cross-cutting collaboration and working together in translating this journey into real results for our citizens,” he said.
“We call upon the private sector to take advantage of our administration’s open-door policy and actively participate in the full utilisation of this platform.”
Meanwhile, in full recognition that small and medium-business enterprises are key contributors to job and wealth creation, President Hichilema said the government allocated resources to the Zambia Credit Guarantee Scheme.
“This has resulted into over 120 small and medium enterprises being supported with guarantees to enable them access financing from commercial banks, as well as supporting beneficiaries with business development services,” said President Hichilema.
“In addition, we have also allocated more resources to the citizens economic empowerment commission for enterprise development, with K365 million worth of empowerment products targeted at citizens, micro, small and medium scale enterprises as well as cooperatives…”
Kalemba September 14, 2022
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