Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Kayula Siame
The Zambian Government, through the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, has commenced implementation of the European Union (EU) funded Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Related Facility (TRF) Project for Zambia.
This development comes after the successful signing of a grant agreement amounting to €1, 400, 000 with SADC Secretariat and finalization of an operational framework for the Project.
Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Kayula Siame tells QTV News in a statement that among the specific interventions which the Project will make include development of the requisite knowledge and capacity of selected farmer groups in Dairy, Aquaculture, Rice and Pineapple sub-sectors to attain international and local standards requirements.
Ms Siame says the Government is cognizant of the fact that attainment of local and international standards is an indispensable ingredient for attaining industrialization, trade competitiveness and consumer confidence.
She says to achieve this, the Government, under the TRF Project, has tasked the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) and University of Zambia (UNZA) Veterinary Department to identify and mentor players on standards requirements in the respective sectors and ensure that market ready players attain the required national and international certification by the end of the Project.
She explains that the Project is also supporting Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) and Zambian Revenue Authority (ZRA) in automating their certification systems.
Ms Siame states that the Project is also focusing on other burgeoning sectors that are key in the export diversification agenda such as – gold mining.