Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
THE American Chamber of Commerce in Zimbabwe (AmCham) says Zimbabwe is increasingly being noticed as an attractive investment destination after enduring international isolation since the 2000s.
This comes as Zimbabwe is embarking on a massive re-engagement drive aimed at ending the country’s isolation and attract foreign investment.
“The launch of the AmCham is a very exciting development, and we are very pleased that more than 100 of Zimbabwe’s chief executives and representatives from American companies from abroad are here… to demonstrate their interest in investing in Zimbabwe,” AmCham chairman, who is also CBZ Holdings’ chairman, Marc Holtzman, told The Financial Gazette this week.
AmCham chairman Marc Holtzman, who is also CBZ Holdings’ chairman (left) and Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube
Holtzman said the chamber was organising its board and was in the process of expanding its membership.
“We are going to be presenting the board in Bulawayo in April this year at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair and we are going to be an anchor to help facilitate further investment inflows into Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said so far, investor appetite was in the mining and agriculture sectors.
AmCham executive director Richard Griffiths said this was a great sign of prosperity for the private sector.
“The existence of AmCham is also a great signal for US businesses to feel the strong level support from both the Zimbabwean and US governments in terms of welcoming business,” he said.
More and more African entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the US’s US$9 trillion economy, with exports to the country growing by 50 percent over the past two years.
The US and Zimbabwe trade relationship is huge and in 2015, the southern African country sent US$67 million worth of products to the western nation and imported US$38 million worth of products.
Exporters enjoy significant tariff reductions under the General System of Preference (GSP).
“Approximately half of Zimbabwe’s exports to the US were through the GSP.
“Unfortunately, Zimbabwe is not eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provides liberal access to qualifying sub-Saharan African countries’ goods into the US market,” AmCham said.
According to the latest data from the office of the US Trade Representative, Zimbabwe is US’s 141st most prominent supplier of goods imports.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw
