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Govt takes first step to support motor industry

30 Jun, 2014 - 12:06 0 Views

The ManicaPost

Ngoni Dapira
MINISTER of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Cde Chris Mushohwe has decried the lack of Government and corporate support in promoting local motor vehicle assembling companies.
Cde Mushohwe said this on Wednesday during a tour of Quest Motors, which has been struggling despite its ability to assemble vehicles at a cheaper price than the vehicles being imported in the country for Government officials.

“We talk of Zim-Asset (Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation). Unless we transform it into action it will remain a paper policy.

“This plant (Quest Motors) and its creative ingenuity to resuscitate operations and keep people employed is part of Zim-Asset. This is what Government and the corporate world should support to revive local industry and make Zim-Asset a success. But it should begin with Government. Why should we buy imported vehicles when Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries and Quest Motors are folding yet they produce vehicles equally good?

“We need to demonstrate as Government that we believe in our local industry and this is an appeal I shall take up seriously as we implement Zim-Asset,” said Cde Mushohwe.

He added that the downstream effects of supporting one industry like Quest Motors in Manicaland alone have the potential to boost production for several other local industries.

During the tour the director of Kenrose Filters, Mr Kenneth Dziruni, said their business drastically went down when production at Quest Motors started declining.

“We are really hoping to see Quest Motors back on its feet because it gave business to several downstream companies.
“They were our biggest customer along with several other companies like Karina Textiles now closed, Dunlop, PG Glass to mention a few that all benefited as suppliers to Quest Motors,” said Mr Dziruni.

Quest Motors director Mr Tarik Adam implored Government to declare the 2002 Presidential Order for local procurement quotas to help them stay afloat. He said all the country’s leading motor vehicle assembling companies, Willowvale, AVM Africa and Quest, are currently struggling and need Government intervention to re-emerge.

Mr Adam said the situation was now dire for the companies and Government should step in and put in place protectionist measures to assist the local vehicle manufacturing companies to stay in business, also taking into consideration the large number of people under their employment who will be affected if they shut down.

“There are serious viability challenges for the industry and we believe that if this is not addressed urgently this will lead to plant closures with adverse consequences on the economy and society.

“However, as Quest Motors we have since looked East and we are now producing Foton, Chery and JMC vehicle models which are cheaper for our local market, but still equal to the task like any of the latest Toyota, Mazda, Nissan or any of the popular models trendy in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Adam.

Mr Adam pleaded with Cde Mushohwe to implore Government to enforce the 2002 Presidential Order.
The 2002 Presidential Order which was more like a 100 percent local procurement quota decree stated that: “All vehicles purchased by Government and by other public institutions, including parastatals, shall be procured from local vehicle assembly plants.”

Mr Adams added that last year they signed an agreement with a Chinese bus manufacturing company, Zhongtong (Pvt) Limited, the manufacturer of the Zupco buses, to manufacture their replica buses.

However, to see through the deal they need a favourable market which has not been forthcoming.

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