The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe (SME) has proposed an alignment of the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe(PRAZ) Act to their policies. This proposal is being highly considered as the inclusion of SME will help PRAZ achieve its mandate of promoting a fair, efficient, competitive and transparent public procurement in the country.
One of the most focal suggestions being considered is that government should acquire at least 25% of goods and services from local SMEs. A provision for this is already available within the SME policy, however, it is missing from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA) Act. This highlights the need for an alignment of the policies as suggested by the SME Association of Zimbabwe.
PRAZ acting chief executive, Mr Clever Ruswa had the following to say with regards to these proposals:
“The authority will be incorporating these amendments as inclusion of SMEs fosters competition by helping more firms to enter the market and helping to grow the market and push innovation”
Among the aforementioned proposals, there have also been others to align the law and the local content strategy to promote acquisition of most goods from local companies. Ruswa commented that the implementation of such propositions will aid in the attainment of better value for money by creating more suppliers which in turn leads to more competition resulting in SME stimulating local benefits.
Other proposals were minor, including the deletion or replacements of some clause or sections.
In working together for the betterment of the economy, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce implemented a Local content Strategy that seeks to ensure that by 2023 local content levels have increased from 20% to 80%. Within this strategy, preference is given to local manufactures over any importers.
PRAZ has met with players in sectors including insurance, health, motor industry, women, youth, sports, art, Information Communication and Technology, tourism and hospitality among others in a bid to facilitate these changes and get further insight from stakeholders.
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