THE planned establishment of a tourism Multi Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) targeting to transform the economic profile of the tourist capital Livingstone, is one venture worth all the effort to see its fruition.
The realisation of the MFEZ in Livingstone will further boost tourist arrivals in the Southern Province city which is endowed with vast tourism potential but yet to be exploited to the fullest.
National growth is currently and will always be the core agenda of current and future governments so as to derive maximum benefits from key economic drivers for the benefit of the economy and the wellbeing of the citizenry.
Much talk has surrounded the tourism industry’s potential, which among other key economic sectors, has been lined up as the frontrunners of national growth.
It is high time that this rhetoric is turned into reality.
The MFEZs currently taking shape in some parts of the country particularly in Lusaka will help define the economic future of Zambia.
The MFEZ falls under the auspices of the Triangle of Hope (ToH) initiative, which was introduced to Zambia in 2005 by the Japanese Government through Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).
The ToH initiative is aimed at creating the platform for Zambia to achieve economic development by attracting significant domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) through a strengthened policy and legislative environment.
This initiative emphasises on political will and integrity, private sector dynamism and integrity and civil service efficiency and integrity as key forces that enable the economy to attain accelerated economic development.
The implementation of this economic drive is designed to make Zambia competitive through increased activity in the trade and manufacturing sectors, which have numerous positive spillover effects in other sectors such as utilities, transport, agriculture and services.
The MFEZs are special industrial zones for both export-oriented and domestic-oriented industries.
The zones will have the well appointed infrastructure in place in order to attract and facilitate establishment of world-class enterprises in these areas.
A country like Zambia, which is competing among other developing countries to attract more foreign investment by the day, will surely benefit from the MFEZ concept.
At a time when different geographical locations have been earmarked for tourism development, such as the Northern Circuit, it is vital that the transformation of Livingstone using this approach derives results so that this approach can be replicated elsewhere to facelift their economic impetus.
Once the economic zone has been established in Livingstone, it will make it easy for people to invest in the area by providing sector incentives in the hospitality industry.
This intervention also comes at a time when the provincial capital status for the Southern Province shifted to Choma from Livingstone, which in any sense has its advantages and disadvantages.
As observed by Tourism and Arts Permanent Secretary, Stephen Mwansa that following this decision, economic activity has slowed down in Livingstone and as an immediate recourse, the MFEZ plan was introduced and has since been submitted to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for onward consideration.
It should be seen as a blessing-in-disguise that the provincial capital was shifted to Choma, because there are other means such as the MFEZ that can be used utilised as instruments to bring the necessary change in a place that hosts one of the Seven Wonders of the World namely the mighty Victoria Falls and several other wildlife.
It is unrealistic that Zambia’s tourism potential can fail to drive the economy without heavily depending on the mining industries, whose resource base is diminishable with time as compared to tourism.
Much as other economic sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and mining are seen as kingpins to drive national growth, tourism has muscle which when harnessed effectively can provide double the desired results.
The MFEZs will aid the blending of the best features of the free trade zones (FTZs), export processing zones (EPZs) and the industrial parks/zones concept and create the administrative infrastructure, rules, regulations etc that benchmark among the best dynamic economies.
The blending of physical infrastructure with an efficient and effective administrative infrastructure will create the ideal investment environment for attracting major world class investors.
It is without doubt that this concept is a best practice for Zambia to allow the spread of economic activity so that each province can contribute from a more governed approach towards the national performance basket of the economy. OPINION