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Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter

The SADC Industrialisation Week lived to its billing and was a transformative event for both local and regional businesses as they had an opportunity to showcase their products as well as interact with key figures from the region, Chilmund Chemicals director for business development Mr Nicholas Bhero, has said.

Mr Bhero’s company was awarded the Best Exhibitor award at the SIW.

The SIW ran from July 28 to August 2, under the theme, “Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustainable economic growth and development towards an industrialisation”.

In an interview, Mr Bhero said the SIW was an eye-opener as companies got to interact with critical players in various sectors.

All the interactions and networking, he said, would go a long way in propelling SADC’s industrialisation efforts.

“We had the privilege of engaging with Government officials from SADC member States, 16 member States in total and we engaged with industry leaders and potential clients from across the region,” he said.

“And these interactions have opened doors to new partnerships and collaborations that will drive growth for our company and the wider SADC economy. We also had an opportunity to interact with officials from Afreximbank to discuss financing of industrialisation.” 

Mr Bhero said the Second Republic’s successful hosting of the SIW had proved a master stroke as new economically beneficial partnerships had been formed.

“If you look at the quality of conversations stemming out of the conference, they were very rich and informative.

“Now, if we look at the contribution to the regional development; we believe that our participation in the Industrialisation Week demonstrates our commitment to the development of the southern region,” he said.

President Mnangagwa’s keynote address, he said, had inspired confidence among businesspeople from the region. Turning to Chilmund’s recognition from SADC, Mr Bhero said it was an honour to receive the award.

“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team in developing innovative, high-quality products that meet the needs of our customers and we have benchmarked ourselves against global standards and I am glad to say we are meeting those standards and this recognition reinforces our commitment to being at the forefront of the chemical industry in the SADC region.

“This Industrialisation Week gave us an opportunity to network and also generate some leads for our business and these networking opportunities were invaluable,” he said.