Southern Province Minister opens the ZICA Annual Business Conference 12th October 2022
Southern Province Minister Cornelius Mweetwa
BY ZICA Annual Business Conference Publicity Team
SOUTHERN Province Minister Cornelius Mweetwa has officially opened the Annual Business Conference (ABC) being held at Avani Victoria Falls Resort in Livingstone from Wednesday, 12th to Friday, 14th October, 2022.
The Annual Business Conference brings together over 500 delegates and is jointly organised by the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
Mr. Mweetwa, a United Party for National Development (UPND) Choma Central Member of Parliament (MP) highlighted that since the last Annual Business Conference convened in 2019, no one could have envisioned what the next four years would look like, in an apparent reference to Coronavirus (COVID-19), which kept public gatherings at bay.
In his maiden speech at the Annual Business Conference, under the theme: “Shaping the future of Business and the workplace post-pandemic,” Mweetwa, serving as UPND Alliance Spokesperson, recollected that the pandemic had highlighted the importance and necessity of digitalization and meaningful connectivity and access to digital platforms for trade to thrive.
The Southern Province Minister echoed that activities shifted to online spaces which highlighted glaring inequalities for countries such as Zambia.
“Our trading was face to face and struggled to evolve to online platforms to ensure sustainability and business continuity”, said Mweetwa.
Ambassador Michael C. Gonzales with President Hakainde Sammy Hichilema
The Southern Province Minister said his government under the leadership of Seventh (7th) Republican President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema had taken care of the rising need for digital capabilities through creating platforms to carry out various business activities.
Mweetwa alluded to the creation of the Ministry of Technology and Science, now led by Mr. Felix Chipota Mutati as a step in the right direction in promoting advancement of knowledge and skills in science and technology in order to accelerate transformation into the digital economy.
The Southern Province Minister says government is working across various sectors to create sustainable frameworks to support the Small Medium Enterprise’s (SMEs) contribution to growing the Zambian economy.
Mweetwa implored all delegates to adopt a mind-set change use acquired skills to move from survival to recovery of the Zambian economy.
“The world and our country (Zambia) has changed and it’s not returning to how things were. We must rethink business for a sustainable recovery,” advised an optimistic Mweetwa.
The Southern Province Minister encouraged all delegates to enjoy the serenity of the Zambia’s Tourist Capital City of Livingstone, as there is a lot to see. ANNUAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE PUBLICITY TEAM/ Rainbow Newspaper Zambia Limited RNZL established on Monday, 25th June, 2007.
