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Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe is in the process of developing a Five-Year National Development Plan with assistance from Chinese experts to enhance production capacity and investment through the implementation of special economic zones.

The five-year plan, which follows the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), will be implemented from 2021 to 2025.

This week, 70 participants from Government ministries and agencies, the banking sector, designated special economic zones and local authorities are participating in a five-day Zimbabwe-China economic reform and transformation virtual workshop to discuss how to draft and prepare the national development plan, learning from Chinese experts.

The workshop also seeks to discuss designing, planning and implementation of special economic zones, the operation of one-stop-service centres, attraction of investment, and preferential policies using the examples of the Harbin National Economic and Technological Development Zone and the Chengdu National Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Annually, a team travels to China for training in economic reform and transformation, but due to Covid-19 this year, the workshop is being conducted virtually.

In Zimbabwe, participants are in Victoria Falls, Bulawayo, Sunway City, various Government offices and three special venues in line with Covid-19 guidelines, especially the need for social distancing.

The Secretary in Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s Office, Mr Godfrey Chanakira, said the training started in December 2015 when several agreements were signed between Zimbabwe and China.

Among those agreements was an agreement between Zimbabwe and the National Development and Reform Commission of China, which entailed the two nations cooperating on the process of economic reform and transformation.

“The five-year development plan has been on a special request based on the last team which went to China for training. We have already started the process of developing our first five-year plan following on to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme.

“The programme will cover the period 2021 to 2025 and any assistance in that regard learning from the experience of others, will be welcome,” he said.

Mr Chanakira said in addition to Special Economic Zones, the Government was looking at broader areas of cooperation like the development of a five-year development plan and how they could access any funding, which is accessible to African countries from China.

“We have not made much strides in attracting the developers for the special economic zones and this is one of the reasons why Government has set up the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency and special economic zones now fall under that agency.”

The Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya, said the workshop was meant to further strengthen the cooperation framework between Government, represented by the Office of the President, and China represented by the International Cooperation Centre of the National Development and Reform Commission.

“The training is part of the Government’s cooperation in enhancing production capacity and investment through the implementation of special economic zones. Government would want to see the gazetted special economic zones implemented expeditiously and has so far put in place all the institutional framework including the establishment of a one-stop-shop centre called the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency to handle all investment matters under one roof,” he said.

Dr Rushwaya said the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has been on a drive to see urgent reforms in the economic sphere under the mantra, ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’.

In December 2015, Zimbabwe and China signed agreements in energy, agriculture, mining, infrastructure, tourism and other key areas, including the framework agreement on the development of production capacity cooperation between the National Development Reform Commission of China and the Office of the President and Cabinet of Zimbabwe.

Chinese Professor Song Qun said the significance of the five-year plan included identifying the directions and specifying major tasks for national development for a certain period.

“This should include facilitating social cohesion and mobilise effective resources in a centralised way to accelerate development.

“The five-year plan should develop countries to leverage their late mover advantages to catch-up with and even surpass the developed countries,” said Prof Qun.

Zimbabwe and China have a strong relationship which dates back to the days of the liberation struggle, but was re-energised by the State visit to Beijing by President Mnangagwa in April 2018 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.