By SAM PHIRI –

ZAMBIA’S endowment with water resources has not been fully exploited to the level of benefiting majority citizens, Local Government and Housing Minister John Phiri has said.
Dr Phiri said infrastructure development and support services such as water were the bedrock of sustainable economic development.
In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Minister of Local Government Nicholas Banda during the Zambia water workshop and exhibition in Lusaka, Dr Phiri said Zambia, was endowed with natural resources such as water that could improve quality of Zambians if fully exploited.
He said Zambia still needed both domestic and external investors to supplement Government’s efforts in building the country for posterity.
“As Government, we are cognizant that investment in the various sectors of the economy will contribute to job creation, poverty reduction, economic growth and development,” he said.
To facilitate the growth, Government had put in place a conducive environment and user-friendly legal framework aimed at fostering public-private partnerships.
The minister said the exhibition was important because it provided an opportunity to various stakeholders to showcase their products and share knowledge.
Italian Ambassador to Zambia Pier Mario Dacco said his Government was interested in bringing more investment into Zambia as it was a haven of peace and good democratic values.
He said the Zambian Government was using a right strategy of attracting investment and that Italy has had strong relations with Zambia in, especially the construction industry.
“We are the ones who built the Kariba dam, the Indeni refinery and many infrastructures in Zambia but we want to increase investment in Zambia looking at the good policies the Zambian Government has put in place,” he said.
Apart from the construction industry, the ambassador said Italy was also interested in investing in the water reticulation, agriculture, food and beverage processing industries.
Mr Dacco said Zambia -Italy relations date back to the 1960 and that he was optimistic and confident that the current Government was going to sustain the ties further as already exhibited.