By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
Government should buy more goods and services from local producers this year than it did in 2015 to limit import payments.
The Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) says it is important for the Government to limit importation of goods and services and procure almost 100 per cent of the goods from local manufacturers this year.
ZAM president Roseta Mwape-Chabala said unless for products which could not be sourced domestically, the Government should take bold decisions to buy local materials.
“We need to depend on what we can produce this year so that we don’t spend so much United States (US) dollars importing products that can be sourced locally.
“If we can make such bold decision where Government procures almost 100 per cent of its products internally, we might see a little bit of a turn-around and those are the measures we are looking forward to this year,” she said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
She said in view of the economic challenges, it was cardinal for the Government to focus on the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
This, she noted, would enable the Government to recoup some of the revenue and job losses from the mining sector.
Ms Mwape-Chabala said the energy crisis had affected
