Harare — THE Zimbabwe Agricultural Society is set to embark on a construction of a shopping complex in the Exhibition Park which houses one of the country's prime exhibition every year -- the Harare Agricultural Show.

The ZAS general manager Mr ??? Marlett said the development had been stalled because of the serious economic challenges facing the country in the past few years.

"Yes, I can confirm that there is going to be a shopping development within the exhibition park, that is at the north western corner of the show grounds.

"This shopping development would be adjacent to Samora Machel Avenue. Whereas the shopping complex is on the cards, there is not much at the moment because of the challenges the entire economy was facing," said Mr Marlett.

Apart from its geographical proximity to the central business district, the proposed shopping mall also presents a lot of opportunities as it is very close to a busy road and may also take advantage of some other amenities on offer within the show ground.

Already the park is host to a number of businesses that offer different services and products.

The ZAS has been on a major drive to attract companies to utilise facilities within the park in a bid to ensure that it generates revenue all year round as opposed to only once a year when the tradition agricultural show is held in August every year.

Most of the companies operating within the park are utilising structures that they had built for the purposes of exhibiting their wares and services during the agricultural shows.

The proposed shopping mall development would give a balance to the capital's shopping areas as there already is one to the east in the form of Eastgate, then another to the west, in the form of Westgate and another to the north in the form of the Sam Levy Village.

While there is another to the south in the form of High - Glen Shopping Centre, it serves the suburbs mostly.