The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has continued to engage the Zambians in the Diaspora in a bid to entice them to invest back home in line with the Diaspora Policy.
Zambia’s Diaspora Policy is based on the realisation that the Diaspora has enormous potential to contribute positively to the country’s development.
It has been realized that the country can benefit from the specialized skills and technological transfer, networking and investment from the Zambians in the diaspora.
On April 9th 2021, ZDA engaged Zambians in the Gulf Region to market the various investment opportunities and the low hanging fruits for investment in Zambia.
Speaking during the webinar, ZDA Director General Mukula Makasa said increased sustainable investment in Zambia was critical in improving economic development and job creation in line with Government’s Seventh National Development Plan and Vision 2030.
Mr. Makasa added that it was against this background that ZDA developed strategies for helping Zambians in the diaspora to invest back home.
“I therefore encourage the Zambians in the Gulf Region to invest in Zambia and take up these opportunities by forming partnerships and joint ventures with locally based companies or to set up directly,” he said.
Mr. Makasa hoped that the event would yield tangible results in terms of investment leads that would eventually be actualized from the Zambian Diaspora in the Gulf.
He pledged ZDA’s availability to facilitate all investment and to provide all the necessary information required for Zambians in the Diaspora to make well informed investment decisions.
Meanwhile, ZDA Investment Promotion Officer Tazizwa Mvula appealed to the Zambians in the Gulf Region to invest in the key priority sectors (manufacturing, energy, agriculture and agro processing, tourism and energy sectors.
“To ice the opportunities, government has provided investment incentives which include zero percent duty rate on imported capital equipment & machinery, zero rate of Value added Tax (VAT) on other tourist services provided to foreign tourists other than those included in tour packages, refund of VAT for non-resident tourists and visitors on selected goods, no import VAT on all goods temporarily imported into the country by foreign tourists and capital allowances at 50% of the cost of plant and machinery depending on the sector the investor invests in,” explained Ms. Mvula.
And Zambian Ambassador to Saudi ArabiaIbrahim Mumba commended ZDA for the initiative to engage with the Zambians living in the Gulf Region.
Mr. Mumba noted that the Zambians in the diaspora were keen to give back to Zambia but had challenges, which he hoped would be ironed out.
He expressed hope that ZDA working with the Zambians in the diaspora would come up with a sustainable programme that would see continued flow of investment from the diaspora.
