VICE President John Nkomo has urged foreign investors to consider Zimbabwe their investment destination of choice while insisting the indigenisation programme was not meant to scare them off.

The Vice President was officially launching the third Euromoney Zimbabwe Investment Conference in Harare yesterday. He said the indigenisation policy sought to achieve the participation of Zimbabweans in the mainstream economy. He urged foreigners interested in setting up shop in the country to “embrace” the policy.

VP Nkomo said indigenisation should be viewed as a way of ensuring mutual benefits between foreign investors and the indigenous people.

“With regards to the economic empowerment of Zimbabweans, we have promulgated the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act which promotes the participation of Zimbabweans in the mainstream economy.

“Investors should embrace this policy as it is a confidence-building measure that assumes political stability in the country as well as promoting a win-win business partnership,” he said.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti had earlier told delegates that “nobody should be worried” with the policy as it is about the “democratisation of the economy”.

The programme would allow “the majority” to be actively involved in the economy than being just “by-standers”.

Minister Biti said the indigenisation laws were not designed to “nationalise or expropriate” foreign businesses but to empower Zimbabweans.

The indigenisation programme seeks to achieve at least 51 percent local ownership in foreign-owned companies, including mines and banks.

Some companies, including Implats-owned Zimplats, and Old Mutual, have already agreed to comply with the law. The two-day indaba is the third since 2009 with the first one held in Turkey.

It seeks to motivate the case of investing in Zimbabwe and expose Zimbabwean companies to foreign investors.

The investment drive is being implemented in the context of the Medium-Term Plan, which identifies Foreign Direct Investment as a major source of revenue.

Over the past decade, the economy has failed to attract meaningful offshore funds, with the latest research by Invictus Securities showing that Zimbabwe attracted only US$250 million in FDI last year. This was against US$55 billion that flowed into the rest of Africa.

Under the MTP, the US$9 billion national economic plan targets to raise FDI inflows to a ratio of 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

Sectors where investors can invest include mining, tourism, and information and communication technology, manufacturing and agriculture.

VP Nkomo said the inclusive Government had managed to create an enabling environment for investments and would continue working on improving the conditions. He assured investors of a ready market by virtue of Zimbabwe being a member of economic blocs such as Comesa, the World Trade Organisation and the European Union.

Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said Zimbabwe, emerging from economic challenges, was now a favourable destination for investment on improvement in the macro-economic environment.

These included single-digit inflation of 4,5 percent, the significant Gross Domestic Product growth for the third year in a row since 2009, the use of the multi-currency system and the bilateral investment protocols with major source markets.

“This is the communication that we are carrying to the international world — that Zimbabwe is ideal for investment. The economy has stabilised, our growth parallels those of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa),” said Minister Mashakada.

He said Zimbabwe was concluding bilateral agreements with source markets, particularly the BRICS, the emerging economic giants.

Analysts say traditional markets such as the EU and the United States are in trouble and financially dry. It thus makes sense for developing countries, such as Zimbabwe, to focus on the BRICS as major source markets.

In its drive to attract foreign investment, the Government has held several investment promotion missions in and outside the country.