eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be the face of the Zimbabwean economy at the 48th World Economic Forum annual meeting, to held from 23-26 January in Davos-Switzerland.
Since his inauguration speech on the 24th of November 2017, President Mnangagwa has made it very clear that getting the economy working again is on top of his priorities.
“The bottom line is an economy which is back on its feet, and in which a variety of players make choices and fulfil roles without doubts and in an environment shorn of fickle policy shifts and unpredictability.
“Only that way can we recover this economy, create jobs for our youths and reduce poverty for all our people who must witness real, positive changes in their lives,” said President Mnangagwa.
But President Mnangagwa knows Zimbabwe cannot go it alone without engaging other economic players in a globalised world.
He is on record saying there is need to take definite steps to re-engage those nations who have had issues with Zimbabwe in the past and attending WEF will provide him with a chance to hold bilateral discussions.
“In this global world, no nation is, can or need be an island, one unto itself. Isolation has never been splendid or viable; solidarity and partnership are and will always be the way.
“Key choices will have to be made to attract Foreign Direct Investment to tackle high levels of unemployment while transforming our Economy towards the tertiary,” said President Mnangagwa.
One way of attracting FDI is making use of platforms such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, which gives us an opportunity to market and showcase Zimbabwe to global businesses and other key international stakeholders.
Attending Davos, will give President Mnangagwa and his delegation an opportunity to explain his vision and strategy on how to kickstart the lacklustre economy, that has lagged behind for more than a decade.
Zimbabwe has every reason to try and showcase its renewed commitment to international collaboration as a way of solving critical challenges and attending Davos will buttress that endeavor.
United Refineries CEO Busisa Moyo said the forum would be a “fantastic opportunity to make sure Zimbabwe is on the agenda regarding investment opportunities and what Zimbabwe has to offer in the new era.
The theme of this year’s Davos meeting is “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World” and ironically it fits into what Zimbabwe wants to achieve in creating a shared future in an economy that has been fractured for years.
Meanwhile, Heads of State set to attend WEF in Davos include India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
Speakers at the meeting include Trump’s chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, former British prime minister Gordon Brown and Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg.
Davos is not an ordinary conference that can just be wished away by anyone serious about growing their businesses or their country’s economy as the meeting brings together over 2 500 leaders from government, business, international organisations, civil society, and the academia.
In its nearly 50 years of existence, WEF has welcomed many global leaders, industry chiefs and bigwigs from the worlds of civil society, religion, technology and the arts.
Some 3,000 delegates are willing to pay big bucks for the privilege of listening to debates, networking and deal making.
