Harare — Zimbabwe should maximise on renewed investor interest and seize the opportunity to emerge as a highly competitive investment destination.

Although statistics released a fortnight ago show that foreign direct investment to this country slumped by 25 percent in 2008, opportunities exist to recoup the losses and register improved performance this year.

The current global recession has reduced the flow of investment capital but Zimbabwe is presently positioned to get a significant chunk of the little that is crossing continents.

Foreign direct investment is a critical component of economic growth, let alone economic turnaround. Zimbabwe, therefore, needs every penny it can get from investors to give more impetus to the economic turnaround process.

The country is presently ranked 151 out of 183 and yet it has most of the ingredients to go higher up.

The formation of the inclusive Government and the introduction of the multiple currency trading system have induced some form of economic stability that has made sense to doing business in Zimbabwe again.

Barring developments over the past few days where we have witnessed concerns by some investors about political developments following the partial pullout from the inclusive Government by MDC-T, Zimbabwe has, over the past six months, generated greater interest among investors.

We hope the current political discord will disappear as fast as it came, with the three political parties re-committing themselves to work for the good of the nation.

Investors are a sensitive lot and such issues as policy inconsistencies need to be addressed urgently to maintain the investor appetite for this country. Any step backward can trigger far-reaching consequences and destroy what has been built over the last few months. It was unfortunate that MDC-T timed its partial disengagement to coincide with the Sanganai/Hlanganani Travel Expo, thus sowing seeds of doubt among tourism investors. They certainly should fully weigh the impact of their decision on the economy.

Efforts should now be directed at retaining investors already in the country while enticing those that have been sitting on the fence.

Bad publicity and other machinations by the West had rendered Zimbabwe a no-go area but the mood has been changing. We should therefore not be doing anything that perpetuates the bad perception that years of anti-Zimbabwe propaganda had generated.

The last four months have seen the country host a number of investment conferences while delegations from South Africa, Botswana, Germany, China, India and many more have expressed a keen interest to set up shop in this country.

The Zimbabwe Investment Authority and the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment Promotion are presently inundated with inquiries about investment opportunities, a sure sign that this country has become fashionable once more.

Almost all sectors of the economy, be it mining, manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure development have opportunities that the investor is looking for although there are some investors that still consider Zimbabwe a high risk area. The onus is, however, on Zimbabwe to ensure that the operating environment continues to change for the better while taking any concerns by investors seriously.

Such big investors as Impala Platinum have intimated they want to pour more money into the country but they would also expect their concerns to be addressed in the process.

It is in this regard that we commend initiatives by Government and the private sector to make ZIA a one-stop shop for investors, a departure from the cumbersome process that would see an investor having to go to so many organisations just to get forms to fill in so that he can bring in his money into our country.

Presently it takes an investor about 50 days to have the paperwork done as opposed to 48 hours in other countries in the region. ZIA should thus move with speed to ensure it transforms into the more efficient authority that it should be.

The days are gone when the authority would pride itself in the number of projects approved instead of those actually implemented. We need to be more action-oriented now as a country.

We are encouraged by the commitment demonstrated by stakeholders in the investment chain at last Friday's workshop to further improve the investment climate.

ZIA should also mount up its campaigns and organise regional and international roadshows to conscientise potential investors on opportunities here while appraising them of efforts being made to improve the investment climate.

Such spirited campaigns were abandoned a few years ago due to lack of funds but ZIA urgently needs to revive them. In all this, Government should also not lose sight of the importance of the local investor.

This critical segment should also be addressed, moreso as a strategy to improve the confidence of foreign investors.

Locals have a role to play in economic regeneration and their concerns should receive due attention.

More investment will mean more jobs, greater wealth creation and the uplifting of the standard of living for Zimbabweans. Positive GDP growth will thus be assured.