A plant owned by Tiger Wheels, which retreads old and used tyres, was yesterday opened by Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu in Harare.

Minister Ndlovu said the commissioning of the new plant was in sync with the strategic objectives of the recently launched Zimbabwe Industrial Reconstruction and Growth Plan (2024-2025).

"We have already embarked on an accelerated drive to implement this plan with all relevant stakeholders. This plan is bridging the gap between the expiry of our Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (2019-2023) and the development of a new Comprehensive Industrial Policy 2 which will be aligned to NDS2," he said.

"Central to this plan is a focus on facilitating local value addition and reducing our perennial trade deficit by accelerating the growth of eight identified targeted sectors, which have high growth potential for localising supply chains that include tyres, cement and motor vehicles among others."

A fundamental aspect was to ensure that Zimbabwe's transport sector benefitted from durable, world-class quality tyres, thus minimising incidences of accidents on the roads.

The chief executive officer of Tiger Wheels, Mr Rishi Magecha, said the commissioning of the new plant augmented the upper middle-income society aspirations.

"The new plant commissioned today is in sync with national aspirations of an upper middle-income society by 2030. So, this is not just any project, but a manifestation of what the President of Zimbabwe has been preaching," he said.

"In line with what most people are saying about Zimbabwe, the reality is that we have been given so much support by the Government, through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Finance and Investment Promotion and Zimra to be able to take the time that we needed to install this plant."