By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

THE Government is working with the private sector to establish a dry-port at the Lusaka South Multi-facility Zone (LS-MFEZ) to ease the clearing of goods by investors in the MFEZ.
LS-MFEZ managing director Fortune Kamusaki said in an interview in Lusaka that the dry-port would be jointly operated by the private sector and the MFEZ.
“We are in the process of establishing a dry-port where business houses that will be operating in the MFEZ will be clearing their goods and this is expected to reduce on time which in the long term
contributes to lowering the cost of doing business especially by investors in the MFEZ,” Dr Kamusaki said.
The proposed dry-port was expected to be a one stop-shop which would house the Zambia Revenue Authority to collect taxes, Immigration Department, Patents and Company Registration Agency, and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) offices among others.
Plans were also underway to link the MFEZ by constructing a railway line to ease the movement of goods to and from the MFEZ adding that this would further attract more investors.
He said the Zone was working on a marketing strategy to help more investors to the MFEZ and this was being undertaken with the help of the Zambia Institute of Management (ZIM).
The MFEZ was being managed by LS-MFEZ Limited, a company which was incorporated in 2012 as special vehicle by Government to manage, operate and develop the MFEZ.
This is a mixed use development set to attract foreign and local firms so as to promote manufacturing, stimulate export activities, technological development, skills transfer, and job and wealth creation.
The development of the MFEZ is guided by a master plan prepared jointly by the Government, Kulim Technological Park of Malaysia and a Japanese Study Team.