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THE signing of the Special Economic Zones Bill into law by President Mugabe this week lays a solid foundation for industrialisation, technology transfer and economic growth. Zimbabwe wields unlimited potential for economic growth and prosperity, but lacked the spark to ignite its inert potential while the decade of economic downturn pulled it down.

We strongly believe that the promulgation of the SEZs Bill into law will be the catalyst and springboard to start the economic miracle that many believe should now unfold. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) provide incentives and an environment investors would ordinarily not be able to get, giving investors comfort and more reason to take the plunge.

The foundation, we believe, for economic transformation has been set or is in the process of being laid, which includes reforms to improve Zimbabwe’s entire business environment. Still, Government is not satisfied it has done enough nor that ongoing reform processes will bring about the most satisfactory or optimum results, hence the SEZs Act.

But enabling legislation is not an end in itself. Work must start in earnest now. Each stakeholders’ work is clearly cut out and must therefore put shoulder to the wheel. We are not there yet, although we have moved miles in coming up with the SEZs legislation.

The legislation is only part of the foundation of a humongous superstructure that must be built and this is not an event, but a process, which requires constant evaluation. We say so because the SEZs are being established to restore and drive the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services competitively, to create economies of scale good enough for the locator of the proposed SEZs to be internationally competitive.

Other objectives of the SEZ include ensuring inclusive growth emanating from the spread of growth nodes and diversified provincial offerings; to maximise the economic benefits of a given geographical location and its stakeholders and to attract more investment from the international world.

With these objectives in mind, what President Mugabe has done is to set the tone for work. The SEZs are expected to establish an appropriate regulatory and policy infrastructure to enable local and regional trade flourish.

Furthermore, the SEZs will be built in Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. We applaud all the stakeholders that contributed to the crafting of the law, Parliament for passing the Bill and the President for signing it into law.

But we reiterate that we now must implement with speed. Inter-governmental departments and other stakeholders should now come together and ensure the objectives of the SEZs are achieved within the shortest period of time. This way we will be able to reap the intended benefits of the zones.

We must move with speed and remove any bottlenecks that might impede the quick operationalisation of the SEZs. It is not a coincidence that the President’s assent to the Bill coincided with a visit by a delegation from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Gansu Province.

China, the world’s second largest economy after the US that has successfully built a diversified industrial base, will help Zimbabwe in developing Special Economic Zones. We need to ride on the expertise of the NDRC among other like-minded friends.

For an economy like Zimbabwe, which has for several years suffered from economic estrangement SEZs are a way of attracting foreign investment and creating jobs. Moreover, having NDRC and huge corporations on tow from China as our mentors, there is no doubt that if we move with speed, we can turn around our economy soon enough.