Bimha urges everyone to play a part in creating better future

Creating a better future is everyone's responsibility. It is not government's responsibility alone, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha told chartered secretaries when he addressed their annual conference in Nyanga over the weekend.

"Everybody wants today to be better than yesterday. That is what development is all about. Let's be better than today.

"But the point is that it is not government's responsibility alone. The responsibility is with all of us in our own different ways. In our different institutions let's make a contribution to creating a better future for this country," he said.

He called on chartered secretaries to contribute towards the creation of a better future for Zimbabwe through their knowledge, skills and the senior positions they hold in the different organisations they work for.
 
Presenting the keynote address at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries in Zimbabwe annual conference at the Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga, running under the theme 'Focus on the Future', Mr Bimha said he thought it was time that everyone played a part in improving the country's situation.

"Your institute can make an impact in determining the future for this country and I think it's high time that we all play a part and not wait for government.

"Government is made up of representatives that are elected by individuals. It doesn't make them better people or more enlightened people than anybody else. There could be people who elect them who are brighter and even more informed than them.

"They have a mandate to rule but it doesn't mean that they have the prerogative of knowledge. Therefore, we need contributions from everybody. We need contributions from your institute to make Zimbabwe great and I am sure we can do it," he said.

Mr Bimha added that Zimbabwe used to be the bread basket of Southern Africa and it could be the bread basket again if everybody put their heads together.

He went on to say that Zimbabwe needs to resuscitate its industries.

"We have seen a deindustrialisation trend over time from the time of ESAP (Economic Structural Adjustment Programme) and you and I need to walk on a path of reindustrialisation. Reindustrialisation will also mean resuscitation of industries and the inviting of new players to come and form new companies.

"You can't resuscitate a company that is dead. Some of them need to remain dead, because they are no longer appropriate. So we have to be selective and see which ones we resuscitate and which ones we say rest in peace.

"That is an area which is not just for government but everyone needs to decide which of those industries we want to see and which ones we should do nothing about," he said.

He emphasised that Zimbabwe needs to grow its economy through industrialisation. Companies that are not working need to be got back on track. That, he said, required both foreign and domestic investment.

"This will require people in your profession to be at the forefront," he added.