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Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are essential for economic growth, with Government’s role being to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said.

Minister Mutsvangwa said this yesterday at the Brand Zimbabwe meeting between Government and the private sector to gather views to improve the image of the country and attract investors and tourists.

The Brand Zimbabwe initiative is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services after it was launched last year.

“For optimal economic attainment, it is necessary that there be PPPs in shared development endeavour,” said Minister Mutsvangwa. “This aspect underscores the rational and purpose of our gathering at this moment.

“President Mnangagwa sees the Government role as foundational in providing an enabling economic framework, whereupon the private sector in its varied manifestation is the driver of cutting-edge initiatives in the production for goods and services for a discerning local and global clientele.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said the country had suffered from negative perceptions for many years which had prompted President Mnangagwa to expend his energy on efforts to reverse the perceptions.

“This salient principle of necessity harnesses your energies and talents into the Brand Zimbabwe Initiative,” she said. “The private sector is best placed to dig into the past of our outstanding historical achievements.

“It will then blend this into our present strengths and thereof design, fashion and deliver as we carve our rightful national role in the global market place.”

Branding of the country falls under the Image Building, International Engagement and Re-engagement thematic area of the National Development Strategy 1. “We believe this branding exercise provides us with an opportunity to critically look at our strengths and weaknesses, recognise and celebrate our resilience in adversity and diversity,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“We believe that branding will strengthen our unity, our social cohesion and our identity as Zimbabweans and restore our national pride.”

A participant at the meeting and entrepreneur, Ms Geraldine Zvikwature, said it was also necessary to include young people in the initiative.

“It will be good for us to have young people aboard, like your junior parliamentarians or junior councillors because they are the majority of our population.”

She said it was important to turn words into action as there had been previous efforts that were made to improve the country’s brand.

Brand Zimbabwe Initiative consultant, Professor Agostinho Zacarias, said it was important for Zimbabweans to construct the image of the country they desired.

“What we are looking at in this programme is building an identity that makes us better, we are looking at a central idea that Zimbabwe will be built,” he said.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, said every Zimbabwean irrespective of their status was free to contribute their views on the image of the country they wanted.