Harare - Alex Erwin, the reappointed minister of trade and industry, will
face disgruntled Zimbabwean businessmen and industrialists when he attends
the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries` (CZI) general meeting from July
14 to 16 at Victoria Falls.
Kumbirayi Katsande, the CZI president, said Erwin had agreed to deliver a
paper entitled Industrial Leadership into the Next Millennium, provided he
was reappointed by President Thabo Mbeki.
Erwin has since retained his portfolio in Mbeki``s Cabinet, and Katsande
confirmed he would participate at the CZI meeting.
The CZI is the key business and industrial representative body in Zimbabwe.
It has been at the forefront of lobbying for concluding the long-delayed
bilateral trade pact with South Africa.
Katsande said there was no doubt that Zimbabwean business people,
frustrated by South Africa``s "intransigent attitude" during the trade
talks, would seize the opportunity to vociferously put their case before
Erwin.
The CZI has also pushed for a meeting between Erwin and Nathan Shamuyarira,
his Zimbabwean counterpart, to try to resolve the issue once and for all.
If this failed Zimbabwe should impose retaliatory tariffs on South African
goods entering the country, the CZI said.
Most Zimbabwean business people were also unhappy that South Africa was
stalling the finalisation of a Southern African Development Community
protocol which would turn the region into a free trade zone by 2008.
Comments by Jeremiah Ndou, South Africa``s new ambassador to Zimbabwe, that
the SADC protocol should be finalised before the bilateral pact was
concluded, had added to the unhappiness of the Zimbabwean business
community. - Independent Foreign Service