ZIMBABWE and Belarus have agreed to set up a bus assembly plant in the country where Minsk provides kits, with Harare using its abundant steel from Manhize, a development that will see the country becoming a hub of bus manufacturing for the Sadc region and the continent.
An initial order of 300 kits will be coming soon and the actual buses will be manufactured in Zimbabwe with Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) at Manhize providing steel which is the crucial raw material for bus assembly
The same arrangement could be also be done on tractors where Belarus will provide kits and have the full tractor built in Harare, riding on the availability of steel in Manhize.
This was said by bus manufacturer AVM managing director, Mr Jacob Kupa during a current affairs Star FM Radio programme, Muriro on Monday.
Mr Kupa was part of the Zimbabwean delegation led by President Mnangagwa that visited Belarus last week to explore ways of furthering cooperation between the two countries.
“Belarus bus manufacturing plant is massive. They produce everything. I have always said as Zimbabwe we equally need to produce everything and we cannot be a market. Their bus plant was an eye opener. I also visited the tractor plant and we enjoyed it.
The tractors and buses coming into the country should not come completely built, we should do some work here,” said Mr Kupa
“Now that we have Manhize coming on stream, we produce steel which is a raw material for buses and tractors. Why not manufacture these things. Let us look at Belarus as a partner in terms of manufacturing. Their manufacturing standards is very high and that is what Zimbabwe is looking at.”
Mr Kupa said they have agreed to start with an initial import of 300 bus kits.
“We are ordering 300 bus kits. We want to manufacture these buses together with the Belarusians. It’s not importing a bus, but we want to create employment for our local people so the buses will be manufactured here in Zimbabwe. This afternoon I had a meeting with Dinson Iron and
Steel company, all these buses will be manufactured from the plant at Manhize. In other words, we are going to get steel from Manhize, manufacture these buses from there.
The first order is for 300 units or kits, the actual bus body will be built in Zimbabwe, so it will be a local bus,” said Mr Kupa.
He said Belarus will set up a bus assembling plant in Zimbabwe that will provide buses locally, the Sadc region and the continent as a whole
“We have also agreed with the Belarusians that the cooperation does not cover Zimbabwe alone but the region as a starting point and Africa. So Belarus is not going to set up another plant to supply Africa but will be in Zimbabwe and we are excited about that,” he said.
Zimbabwe and Belarus signed several agreements of cooperation in various fields that include manufacturing, media, agriculture, transport, women empowerment among others.
The two countries have registered milestones already in their cooperation as Minsk has delivered more than 2 000 high tech tractors, combine harvesters, a development that has immensely contributed to the country’s good harvests last season. – Herald
