Lusaka Economic Zone takes off next year
By KASUBA MULENGAMINISTER of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati says implementation of the US$350 million Lusaka multi-facility sub-economic zone will start next year.
Mr Mutati said because of the urgency of the matter, the Chinese Minister of Commerce will be in the country next week to discuss the implementation of the sub-zone that will include the creation of the New Airport City and turning Chongwe district into a modern sub-city.
The minister said this in Lusaka on Monday evening when Chinese Multi-Facility Economic Zones (MFEZs) experts presented a conceptional master plan of the Lusaka sub-economic zone.
The MFEZ experts were from China Association of Development Zones (CADZs), Shanghai ETOPIA Building Development Company Limited and the Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Research Institute.
“Because of the urgency of the matter, I will be meeting the Chinese Minister of Commerce next week to discuss the implementation of the Lusaka sub-economic zone so that it can start next year,” he said.
Mr Mutati said the Chinese Minister of Commerce wants the implementation of the Lusaka sub-zone to commence as soon as possible so that jobs can be created for Zambians.
The minister said implementation of any development process requires patience to create the much needed jobs for the people.
Mr Mutati said the Zambian delegation that travelled to China in June this year to attend the MFEZs seminar learnt a lot about the benefits of MFEZs.
“As we move forward, we will encounter challenges like resistance from people. But resistance is a permanent feature of any development process,” he said.
Mr Mutati said Government is ready to initiate necessary changes to the legal framework to accommodate issues of creating the New Airport City including other aspects of the Lusaka sub-economic zone.
He said every Zambian should contribute to infrastructure development because this requires collective efforts and that Government will provide budgetary funding for constructing the road from the Lusaka International Airport to the sub-economic zone.
Mr Mutati said MFEZs are one of the economic models Zambia will pursue to create employment for local people.
And Parliamentary Chief Whip Vernon Mwaanga, who is a member of the ministerial delegation that attended the MFEZ seminar in China this year, said the creation of the MFEZs in Zambia will play a significant role in the economic development of the country.
“We believe that the creation of the Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone, which is the first of the five to be established in Africa, is a tremendous milestone for Zambia,” he said.
Mr Mwaanga said the Zambian Government will remain receptive to ideas about development and will quickly resolve the problems it will face in the implementation of MFEZs.
He said he has been to China 15 times and has seen how the creation of MFEZs has helped to transform the East Asian country into the world’s largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment now amounting to US$900 billion.
Mr Mwaanga said China has created a conducive environment for foreign investment since it opened its doors to the outside world.
And CADZ vice secretary general Zhou Zhen Bang said the creation of the MFEZs in Zambia is a platform for friendship between China and Zambia.
Mr Zhou said the experts from China are well experienced in the development of economic zones.
He said China will involve local people in the development of the Lusaka economic sub-zone whose first phase is expected to be completed over a period of two to three years depending on the infrastructure to be built.
And Shanghai ETOPIA Building Development Company Limited president Su Yunsheng said the experts have done a lot of study on how to develop the Lusaka sub-economic zone that will cover about 570 hectares of land.
Dr Su said under the master plan, the New Airport City is expected to accommodate over 100,000 people while other parts of the city will be for industrial and commercial activities.
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