QUEST Motor Manufacturing, a local motor vehicle assembling plant, is set to receive its first tranche of equipment to produce about 180 vehicles next month, as the Government ramps up efforts to reduce the country’s import bill through local procurement promotion.
This was announced by Industry and Commerce Minister, Honourable Mangaliso Ndlovu during a tour of the manufacturing industry in Mutare, yesterday (Thursday).
During his tour, Minister Ndlovu visited Quest Motor Manufacturing, Wattle Company, a timber and timber products producer, and Mega Market, a fast-moving consumer goods giant.
In an interview on the sidelines of the tour, Minister Ndlovu revealed that starting next month, Government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) will be required to outsource only commodities that are not produced locally.
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“We have seen impressive progress in terms of capacity utilisation of our industries. As a Government, we have a policy position that prioritises local procurement. Although we have not been enforcing this rigorously, all Government ministries and departments will ensure that priority is given to procuring locally produced goods next year. This is the only way we can sustain the jobs being created and generate capacity to export to the region,” he said.
In a separate interview, Quest Motor Manufacturing general manager, Mr Carl Fernandes confirmed that the company will receive the first tranche of equipment, enabling them to commence vehicle production next month.
“We hope our recent push with Chinese partners will start to bear fruit in November this year, when our first parts arrive. We are looking forward to start with the JAC T9 double cab and moving on to the Foton Tunland V9, their latest double cab pick-up, in January next year. We are aiming to produce 180 vehicles in the next couple of months, and this figure may change depending on demand,” said Mr Fernandes.
Quest Motor Manufacturing is one of the oldest companies in the eastern border city, having been established in the early 1960s.
Mr Fernandes said the manufacturing concern has a history of engaging Chinese firms in its production lines.
“We have been here in Mutare since 1961, and were one of the earliest companies to heed the Government’s ‘Look East’ Policy in 2011. However, we had already started engaging with big Chinese brands and forming partnerships with them. When the Government launched the Look East Policy, we quickly adopted it, and have since transitioned to form partnerships with even larger Chinese companies. We have seen Chinese buses and products dominate the local market, with a massive uptake in the industry. The same is true in South Africa, where four of the top 10 vehicles sold every month are Chinese,” said Mr Fernandes.
Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Zhou Ding, said his office will support more investors from China who wish to do business in Zimbabwe.
“We want to see more China-Zimbabwe cooperation beyond mining, in manufacturing and technology businesses, creating value chain jobs in Zimbabwe. I am pleased with the partnership between Quest Motor Manufacturing and Foton, which will revive operations here. We will continue to support investors who want to come to Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are hardworking, and the economy will soon rebound if the government’s 2030 agenda is implemented,” he said.
Minister Ndlovu also commended Mega Market and Wattle Company for achieving 100 percent capacity utilisation and impressive value-addition efforts, respectively.
“One thing I have noted during this tour is that the three players we visited in the manufacturing sector are performing well. Mega Market’s achievement of 100 percent capacity utilisation is commendable. For Wattle Company, we have gathered that they have now gone a gear up in their value addition efforts, and maximising the use of timber to the extent that they recently started plywood production,” said Minister Ndlovu.
Wattle Company executive director, Mrs Victoria Jakazi said the recent addition of plywood to their list of products had increased their timber products extraction scale to around 70 percent.
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“In terms of pine sawn timber, we actually sell locally only and no longer export, for two reasons. First, our prices are not competitive in the region. South Africa has large producers. Second, with the dwindling timber resource, we have to prioritise the local market. We estimate that our share is about 30 percent, as we have two other major producers and several smaller entities.
“We employ about 2 000 people, and have three divisions – Nyanga Pine Division, where we produce pine sawn timber and plywood, a value-added product; Vumba Timbers – where we produce treated poles; and the Wattle Mimosa or Chipinge-Chimanimani Division – where we produce wattle extract. We are currently replanting with more pine and gum trees.
“We started with pine sawn timber, and have since moved to plywood, which has taken us to over 60 percent utilisation. We plan to use more waste to produce pulpwood, which should take us to around 80 percent,” said Mrs Jakazi.
