1. UTILISATION OF BILATERAL AND REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS IN ENHANCING TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Presentation to Stakeholders by the
Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Enterprise Development
31 May 2018

2. WHY TRADE AND INVESTMENT IMPORTANT FOR ZIMBABWE?
Increased investments and exports for Zimbabwe will propel economic growth and development through job creation and increased foreign exchange earnings.
This ultimately leads to improvement in the standards of living for the general populace.
Trade and Investment Promotion activities are therefore of prime importance for Zimbabwe as a strategy to aid economic growth and development.
Trade Agreements have been entered into by Zimbabwe to promote the country’s exports into trading partners markets.

3. Bilateral Preferential Trade Agreements
OVERVIEW OF TRADE AGREEMENTS
Zimbabwe is signatory to Bilateral, Regional and Multilateral Trade Agreements
Bilateral Preferential Trade Agreements
Zim/Botswana Trade Agreement - signed 1965, amended 1988, 2001 & 2010
Zim/Namibia Trade Agreement - signed 1993, amended 2000 & 2010
Zim/Malawi Trade Agreement - signed 1995, amended 2000 & July 2006
Zim/Mozambique Trade Agreement - signed 2004
Zim/South Africa 1964 Trade Agreement - being terminated end of 2018 at the proposal of South Africa in favour of SADC Protocol on Trade
Zim/DRC – signed 2002 (not operational due to non-ratification by DRC)
Zimbabwe has MFN Trade Agreements with over 40 countries but these are just general without offering preferential treatment.
Negotiations underway for Trade Agreements with Iran and Algeria.

4. Mineral products extracted from the Zimbabwean soil
PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTS PROVISIONS
Reciprocal duty-free market access for specified export goods that meet agreed rules of origin
The following categories of goods shall be considered as grown or produced in Zimbabwe:
Mineral products extracted from the Zimbabwean soil
Agricultural products harvested or gathered therein
Live animals born and raised therein
Products obtained from live animals
Forest products harvested therein
Fish and other fish products gathered therein or from the marine economic zone
Scrap and waste resulting from manufacturing operations within the Contracting Parties
Products obtained therein exclusively from products specified above
Manufactured goods that will have attained a minimum local content of 25%

5. HOW TO ACCESS THE MARKET
PREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTS PROVISIONS
HOW TO ACCESS THE MARKET
The goods should be accompanied by:
A manufacturer or exporter makes an application in writing to ZIMRA to export under a particular trade agreement.
The application should be supported by evidence that the goods originate in Zimbabwe.
Certificate of Origin certified by ZIMRA.
Where a person other than the manufacturer is exporting a product, the original manufacturer should endorse the Certificate of Origin.

6. Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Free Trade Area
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
Zimbabwe has duty-free and quota-free market access into the following Regional Economic Communities (RECs);
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Free Trade Area
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area
Tripartite Free Trade Area (COMESA-SADC & East African Community-EAC)
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – Agreement signed on 21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda
Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU – Ratified by Zimbabwe in 2012

7. COMESA FREE TRADE AREA (FTA)
Member States (20) - Burundi, Djibouti, Comoros, DRC, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Strategy - Regional integration through trade and investment: creating a single market for goods and services and a common investment area.
Free Trade Area (FTA) formed in 2000.
Market for 400 million people
Market access - Zero tariffs on goods originating from COMESA countries
Goods from non-COMESA dutiable at full national tariff rates (MFN)
Application of COMESA Rules of Origin
25% local content for goods of economic importance
35% Value addition
Change in tariff heading
Wholly origination
ZIMRA certifies Certificates of Origin

8. SADC FREE TRADE AREA (FTA)
Member States (15) - Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, DRC, Seycheles
Initially frontline states (Politics)
Infrastructure Development
Later Trade, Trade Protocol signed in 2000, Free Trade Area established in 2008
One of the objectives: Promotion of economic cooperation and integration among its members
A key cooperation instrument developed under the SADC Industry and Trade Programme
To promote the liberalization of intra-SADC trade in goods and services with initial emphasis on trade in goods
Establish and sustain efficient production chains within SADC on the basis of comparative advantages obtaining in member states
Enhance investment climate of SADC for both regional and international investors
SADC Industrialization Agenda and Road Map, launched in 2015.

9. Tripartite Free Trade Area - COMESA-SADC & East African Community-EAC)
TRIPARTITE FREE TRADE AREA (FTA)
Tripartite Free Trade Area - COMESA-SADC & East African Community-EAC)
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – Agreement signed on 21 March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda
Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU – Ratified by Zimbabwe in 2012

10. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
OVERVIEW OF TRADE AGREEMENTS cont’d
Multilateral Trade Agreements of the World Trade Organisation
Trade among WTO Member Countries is on a Most Favoured Nation and National Treatment Principle (non-discrimination among trading parties).
Include the latest Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) which is aimed at facilitating movement of goods across borders
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
allows duty-free and quota-free export to a number of developed and some developing countries
GSP Certificates of Origin are obtainable at ZimTrade
Zimbabwe is not party to the US African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) trade preferences to access the US market due to sanctions.

11. BENEFITS OF TRADE AGREEEMENTS
Formalize Zimbabwe’s trading relationships with various trading partners.
Provide specific parameters that govern and facilitate such trade through a conducive framework.
Enable producers to exploit existing trade opportunities and provide a certain level of confidence for producers to trade
Exported products become competitive when they are exported duty-free at lower cost, resulting in increased exports .
Some Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade (NTBs) are eliminated through Trade Agreements

12. Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) into the EU
TRADE AGREEEMENTS AND ATTRACTING INVESTMENTS
FDI can be attracted into Zimbabwe due to diverse duty-free market access opportunities provided by the trade agreements Zimbabwe in party to.
Investors from the rest of the world would be attracted to invest in Zimbabwe because of the ready market provided by the;
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) into the EU
Market access opportunities for Zimbabwe into COMESA, SADC because of the central geographical location.

13. Make use of the various Trade Agreements
GOVERNMENT EXPECTATIONS FROM INDUSTRY
Make use of the various Trade Agreements
Trade Agreements’ usefulness can only be proven if producers make use of them
Challenge is to be more aggressive – It is one thing to have the agreements in place and another thing to utilize them.
Expand exports/initiate exports in markets of trading partners
Play critical role as Government’s cooperating partners to realize the nation’s vision to intensify the generation of foreign currency through exports.

14. On this platform, one gets instant access to information on:
ZIMBABWE TRADE INFORMATION PORTAL
Trade information on Zimbabwe is readily available on the official Zimbabwe Trade Information Portal at:
This is a one-stop platform for doing business in Zimbabwe which is administered through ZimTrade.
On this platform, one gets instant access to information on:
How to export to and import from Zimbabwe.
Policies, Regulations and Trade Agreements
Trade/Export Directory with contacts of Zimbabwe companies
Trade Events
Online Chat Assistance

15. Zimbabwe Trade Information Portal
ZIMBABWE TRADE AND INVESTMENT PROMOTION
Zimbabwe Trade Information Portal

16. MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, COMMERCE AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
THANK YOU