Zambia looking for ways to increase investment, employment-Veep

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Vice President Guy Scott says Zambia is looking for ways to increase investment and employment in the country.

He said government’s top priority is to look for tangible ways of reducing unemployment which has been one of the challenges the country has been grappling with.

Speaking at a discussion hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Dr. Scott said though mining generates profit and tax, it does not create the much needed employment.

Dr. Scott said government was looking for investment where massive employment can be created in the agriculture, tourism and manufacturing industries.

The Vice President further stated that Zambia is a country that respects human rights and has continued with liberal policies that are based on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

He also said African countries were positive about the partnership with the US government.

Dr. Scott said this was the first time that the American government had brought together African leaders, a sign that they were ready to do business with Africa.

And Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Bob Sichinga assured the CCA that Zambia was a country that was conducive for investment.

Mr Sichinga said the country enacted a Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) law in 2006 that provides for a suitable relationship to the investor and its responsibility to the state.

He said ZDA is also responsible for managing and monitoring foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

The commerce minister said the country has 11 farming blocks in which government provides basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads.

Mr Sichinga said government was thus looking for core investors who can attract other investors to the farming blocks.

He said the farming blocks would help in agro processing and development.

And Corporate Council on Africa Vice President Stephen Hayes said the organisation was going to take a trade mission to Zambia and Zimbabwe later this year.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) is a non-profit, membership-based organization established in 1993 to promote business and investment between the United States and African nations.

CCA is the premier American organization devoted to US Africa business relations and includes more than 160 companies, which represent nearly 85 percent of total US private sector investments in Africa.

 

The CCA meeting was attended by various business men and women from America.

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