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Zimbabwean, South African ministers meet over trade issues

Xinhua, August 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zimbabwean Minister of Industry and Commerce Mike Bimha has met with his South African counterpart Rob Davies in South Africa to discuss bilateral trade issues, including Zimbabwe's recent move to ban selected imports from South Africa.

Bimha told a press briefing Friday that South Africa welcomed Zimbabwe's clarification on the import ban, with the two countries pledging to further cement their trade ties.

South Africa is Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner but a recent import ban by Zimbabwe on some South African products appeared to have unnerved South Africa, with some media reports indicating the country was considering retaliatory action.

However, Bimha said the South African trade and industry minister Rob Davies denied that South Africa intended to hit back at Zimbabwe over the import ban.

"He did regret the negative reports that have been circulating in the media on these measures which were more of making reference to issues that South Africa was resorting to measures to retaliate against our Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016," Bimha said.

Zimbabwe effected the SI in June this year, which puts restrictions on importation of 42 products mainly from South Africa.

Zimbabwe says the measure, which it argues is not an import ban, is aimed at protecting the local industry as it only targets products that are already produced in Zimbabwe.

Bimha said Zimbabwe wanted the import restrictions to be in force for the next two to three years to allow the struggling Zimbabwean companies to retool and improve production capacity.

Government would also put in place funding schemes for the affected companies to enable them to recapitalize during the protection period, he said.

Zimbabwean manufacturing companies are struggling with lack of funding to retool and acquire raw materials, a development that has left them teetering on the brink of collapse, hence government's intervention through various measures such as the import ban.

Meanwhile, Bimha said South Africa had requested Zimbabwe to either reduce or exempt from tax its 112 products that it exports to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe was currently consulting on the matter, Bimha said, adding Ministers of Health from the two countries were also discussing a matter where there should be reciprocity in the trading of pharmaceutical products.

South Africa currently insists that pharmaceutical products from Zimbabwe should be transported by air and yet Zimbabwe does not insist on that requirement.

"We allow pharmaceutical products from South Africa to come through Beitbridge Border Post hence their pharmaceutical products become more competitive than ours," he said.

The two industry ministers are due to meet again after two weeks to check on progress regarding the decisions they made. Endite