BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

Zimbabwe is targeting to generate export earnings of $7 billion by 2023 and double that by 2030, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.

Speaking at the official opening of the ZimTrade’s 2019 Exporters’ Conference in Bulawayo, Mnangagwa said local manufacturers would have to export at least 20% of their produce to meet the target and generate enough foreign currency for the country’s needs.

Mnangagwa said they had moved the trade promotion body ZimTrade from the purview of the Industry and Commerce ministry to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade portfolio as part of government’s re-engagement with the international community.

“The culture of producing for export needs to be inculcated among all producers and in particular SMEs,” he said.

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Mnangagwa said the strategy towards the 2030 Agenda seeks to propel Zimbabwe’s industrialisation towards a transformed and internationally competitive economy driven by robust, free and fair international trade.

Zimbabwe’s vast natural and human resources need to be complemented with policy strategies that will enable the country to build production capacity and generate the much-needed foreign exchange earnings through exports, he said.