By Derick Tsimba
The SME Association of Zimbabwe has called on the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to be part of the Manufacturing, Value Addition, Import Substitution and Exports (MVAISE), The Harare Post can report.
In its statement on its Facebook page, the SME Association of Zimbabwe said the MVAISE programme was intended to help business improve their production capacity.
“The MVAISE program is aimed at supporting businesses to expand their production capacity, as well as link them to domestic, regional and international markets. Working in collaboration with other partners in the trade and development space, the Association will also provide the following: business linkages, export market assistance, local market penetration assistance, assistance in securing funding for equipment and expansion, training and capacity-building.
“It is aligned to initiatives by Government to promote increased productivity through the recently launched Industrialisation Policy, as well as initiatives such as the Local Content policy which seeks to reduce our import bill through locally producing many of the products that are currently imported. Our primary emphasis is on production of raw materials and intermediary goods, though those who are also producing end consumer products especially those with the potential for improvement to compete with imported ones are also encouraged to come on board,” said the Association.
The Association also said it was working with partners to foster ground linkages between SMEs and large corporations, as well as with retailers.
“The SME Association of Zimbabwe is working with partners such as Zim-Trade and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe, together with other Business Member Organisations such as Buy Zimbabwe and CZI to foster ground-level linkages between SMEs and large corporations, as well as with retailers,” said the SME Association of Zimbabwe.
Harare Post has learnt that SMEs are currently being urged to sign up and become part of this program, at the Associations offices at Batanai Gardens in Harare.
