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Zimbabwe clothing sector supports colonial era South African deal

Zimbabwe Clothing Manufacturers' Association (ZCMA) has urged the government to implement a colonial era Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) it signed with South Africa in 1964 in a bid to boost the local industry. Although, South Africa had argued that all trade should be done within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) trade protocols, BTA had some preferences towards SADC, mainly due to the refusal by South Africa to liberalise areas of the regional trade protocols.

The rest of the region should also be supported to develop so that our economies can also be more industrialised. The clothing and textile sectors had formalised an agreement on support measures, which would greatly enhance the competitiveness of both industries.

The support measures were regulatory and relatively simple but the implementation had stagnated. It was also vital that the industry received allocations of foreign currency to import the raw materials, which were not made locally. The agreement provided targeted support for cotton value addition and textile development but most raw materials the clothing sector required still needed to be imported.

 

 
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