Acting Information Minister Fackson Shamenda is furiously using the limited time he is stepping in for Mwansa Kapeya to dish out a myriad of statements on all fronts with his latest being on the introduction of the Industrial Development Corporation by the Patriotic Front government.
Shamenda said that Zambians should give IDC a chance because its name was different from the UNIP era INDECO and also said that there would be no political interference although the PF’s IDC will be chaired by the Head of State.
Below is the full statement:
STATEMENT BY HON. FACKSON SHAMENDA, MP, ACTING MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES AND CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON ON THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (IDC)
Government’s decision to create the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is not an after-thought as insinuated by some sections of society.
The move is part of Government’s overall economic agenda aimed at improving people’s living standards through rigorous and robust job creation as espoused in the Patriotic Front Manifesto.
While the concept and objective of the former INDECO under the UNIP Government and the proposed IDC may be similar, the economic environment then and now is totally different.
The doubts and fears being expressed by some people that the introduction of the proposed IDC will stifle the private sector and return the country to monopolistic and state controlled economy are unfounded and unjustified.
Firstly, I ought to stress that what is being created is not INDECO but IDC. This is the first and fundamental distinction between the two and which should define the mindset with which we approach this issue.
Government is not resurrecting INDECO but establishing a whole new public holding company, necessitated by today’s realities.
The IDC will come with a new strategic vision and mandate to be an alternative engine of economic growth. We will put in place viable management structures and systems and ensure that there is no political interference.
The fact that a similar structure in the name of INDECO once existed and failed, in itself provides valuable lessons for Government to learn from. Firstly, ownership was not the reason why INDECO failed, but bad management and political interference. This Government is alive to this fact and will not repeat mistakes of the past.
If ownership was the issue, how then do you explain the fact that many private companies are failing and folding up. On the contrary, under the PF Government, we have seen parastatal institutions performing much better than private companies. That just goes to show that with proper management, IDC will do well and succeed where INDECO failed.
Zambians must not be obsessed with the ghost of the late INDECO, but instead should strive to remind Government the mistakes that were made in the past.
Secondly, you will recall that the MMD Government embraced blind faith in the so called market forces and the belief that Government had no business in business.
But today, we know that no Government can divorce itself completely from business.
Every Government world-over has strategic industries which it cannot leave to market forces or private sector alone.
In a developing countries like ours, the private sector may not easily go where Government wants to take development or open up new opportunities.
It becomes the duty of Government to open up such neglected areas and lay down the necessary infrastructure which may later attract private investment.
Government’s decision to establish the IDC, therefore, does not amount to suffocating the private sector but that the two sectors complement each other in accelerating and deepening the country’s economic development.
Hon. Fackson Shamenda, MP
ACTING MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES AND CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON
The post Shamenda Floods Media with Statements appeared first on Zambia Reports.