'Buy local' crusade to be launched in Bulawayo

The Buy Zimbabwe Campaign team, in partnership with Innotec (Pvt) Ltd, regulators and authorities, are coordinating the programme will this month launch a Bulawayo business sensitization campaign aimed at promoting the consumption of locally produced goods under the Buy Local, Revive Bulawayo" crusade.

The initiative is meant to buttress the government's fiscal policy measures on tackling the skyrocketing import bill estimated to be about $4 billion, which economists blame for suffocating domestic industrial competitiveness, according to a State-run paper.

The programme, reports state, is an attempt to save and create jobs, revive the Bulawayo economy and improve standards of living for ordinary people.

The one week campaign will be held from October 25 to 31, 2014.

"There will be a public expo for locally produced goods and services, a business conference and performance awards for Bulawayo companies among other promotional activities.

"The event will see surviving and aspiring Bulawayo firms engaging with the public, government departments, public and private sector organisations and other stakeholders in an effort to promote increased production and consumption of their goods and services," reports the Chronicle today.

Ultimately, they said, the programme seeks to achieve on a medium to long term basis, restoration of Bulawayo's lost economic status as the country's industrial hub.The programme is set to bring hope for Bulawayo, which has witnessed closure of more than 100 companies in the last decade.