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Cde Mutsvangwa

Felex Share Senior Reporter
War veterans yesterday said they were fully behind the adjustment of investment laws in the country as a way of luring Foreign Direct Investment.

Addressing hundreds of war veterans at Zanu-PF Headquarters in Harare yesterday, the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, former Political Detainees and Restrictees, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, said the country was “back on the map” after a decade of suffering from sanctions-induced economic hardships.

As such, he said, a number of Western countries were warming up to Zimbabwe’s vast investment opportunities.

“The President is focused on doing everything to make sure that we revise our laws, tune and adjust them so that there can be a big sign board to say Zimbabwe is back in business,” Cde Mutsvangwa said.

“We are back in international affairs and are happy about that development. The important dividend is in the field of development; Foreign Direct Investment is beginning to flow into the country. We have resources and this is what attracts business people to Zimbabwe.”

Cde Mutsvangwa, who is also Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association national chairman, said there was need to “reposition” Harare as the entry point of capital into the country.

“We are meeting to see how, as war veterans, can help to spruce up the image of Harare so that it becomes a premium destination of Foreign Direct Investment in Africa,” he said.

“Sanctions were meant to deny Zimbabwe the capital for its development. We had been removed from the traditional capital markets, but now that we have won, we are back in the game and we are very happy that not only are the new centres of capital such as Beijing, Mumbai and Sao Paulo are coming to Zimbabwe, but more exciting the traditional centres of capital in the West, that is London, Paris, Madrid and New York are all coming back to Zimbabwe.”

He said the 6th Zanu-PF National People’s Congress held last December had brought certainty in the direction of the revolutionary party by doing away with pretenders and reactionaries.

He said by ousting unruly and corrupt elements from the party, partners worldwide now had confidence in Zanu-PF.

“The Congress, together with the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections, announced to the whole world that in Zimbabwe President Mugabe is in charge of the country,” Cde Mutsvangwa said.

“He is the centre of power undisputed. We did away with pretenders and reactionaries who wanted to usurp the power of the party and it has brought confidence to all our partners within the sub-region and across the globe that President Mugabe is in charge, Zanu-PF is in charge and the country is under firm direction and the address to business is P.O. Box State House, Zimbabwe.”

He added: “You can see by the stead flow of businesspeople coming to see our President and ministers. This is an exciting development. It means that we are now concentrating on making Zim-Asset work and the main focus is of FDI.

“We were preoccupied with consolidation of independence of the country. We fought so dearly, defeating imperialists. We braved all the reactionaries and made Western countries realise that their sanctions policy meant to reverse the land reform by removing Zanu-PF from power was an exercise in futility.”

Cde Mutsvangwa took time to appraise the war veterans on the developments in the party and Government, particularly the economic blue print, Zim-Asset.