Highlights

The IPR noted that since the introduction of major economic policy reforms in the early 1990s, private investment, including FDI, had been playing a greater role in Zambia´s economy. FDI had also contributed to the long-term policy objective of Zambia, which is to diversify its production and export base from mining to other products and services. To date, the performance of the Zambian private sector had been poor due largely to the high cost of capital and domestic inputs for local production, which make sustaining competitiveness in an open economy practically difficult. That said though, the immediate prospects for both domestic and foreign investment were encouraging as Zambia was still far from exploiting its considerable investment potential, which exists in many industries and activities.

The IPR recommended:

• Further improvements in the investment policy and regulatory framework.
• Consolidation of recent improvements in macroeconomic policy.
• Increasing the availability and competitiveness of infrastructure services.
• Developing and strengthening the domestic private sector.
• Policy coherence and investment promotion.

Follow-up activities

UNCTAD has assisted the government in the following ways:

• It has produced a Blue Book on Best Practices in Investment Promotion and Facilitation (funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation).
• It has assisted in drafting a law to establish the International Trade Commission to advise the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry on trade and tariff matters.
• It assisted the Government in organizing two investors´ fora in June 2007. The first was aimed at Indian ICT investors, the second at Indian pharmaceutical investors.
• It assisted the Government in organizing two investors´ fora in June 2007. The first was aimed at Indian ICT investors, the second at Indian pharmaceutical investors.