The Ministry of Trade and Industry on Tuesday held a workshop in response to the clarion call from the private sector for the establishment of business linkages between local traders. This was meant for local manufacturers and those traders who mainly trade in imported goods.
The acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Masisi, said the objective of the Task Force was to facilitate the development of a sustainable win-win business relationship between local manufacturers and traders so as to design a framework for continuous dialogue between them.
The other objective was to facilitate the development of reasonable operational guidelines that clearly spell out the supply requirements traders expect local producers to meet. ?With this workshop, we wanted to develop an action plan or roadmap to be followed and used by both traders and local producers in the implementation of agreed measures,? explained Masisi.
With its theme, ?Strengthening Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises through partnership with businesses for sustainable Economic Growth and Diversification?, Masisi said it was a clear testimony that an effort had been made to create a forum for interaction between traders and local manufacturers.
Furthermore she urged the participants to tackle the challenge at hand. ?We all stand to benefit from transforming this challenge into an economic opportunity.?
