ENVIRONMENT, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Ministry is working on developing a strategic plan that is seeking to ensure there is a collaboration between officials from two ministries which were combined.
The ministry is a combination of the former Ministry of Environment and the former Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry; the two ministries did not collaborate well in terms of tourism development.
Addressing ministry delegates at the Strategic Plan development meeting in Mutare, Minister Mupfumira said she is expecting full commitment from everyone who is now in the “Team Environment and Tourism”.
“Indeed, tourism and environment are inseparable functions that feed on each other. Going forward, there is a need for us to create synergies between the two mandates of the former Ministries to ensure that we create a shared vision, and a team that will be united for the success of the Ministry.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ministry Strategic Plan we are developing today, should be rooted in the National Vision, “Towards a Prosperous and Empowered Upper Middle Income Society by 2030”, as enunciated by His Excellency, the President. The peace and tranquillity ushered in with the attainment of the Second Republic coupled with the current efforts at re-engagement, present great opportunities for our sector to grow in line with the national mantra “Zimbabwe is Open for Business.”
“In order to attain this Vision, as the Minister I expect exceptional levels of achievements, which will reinforce the sector’s position as one of the key contributors to the prosperous middle-income economy. Therefore I call for collective determination and a serious commitment of every individual who is part of “Team Environment and Tourism” to individually contribute to the collective efforts,” she said.
Minister Mupfumira added that the Strategic Plan being developed should also be aligned to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) which runs from October 2018 to December 2020.
The minister said the gathering is very crucial for the Ministry, “as it will ensure that we have a guiding framework to lead us, as we execute our mandate going forward.
“… I also wish to acknowledge the participation by the Boards and parastatals under my Ministry at this Strategic Planning Workshop. As you are aware, Government has scaled up Parastatals and State Enterprises Reforms to ensure they contribute more to economic growth.
“I have recently appointed Boards in all our 4 Parastatals and 2 State Enterprises. We, therefore, expect the Results-Based Management to be cascaded down to all the Parastatals and State Enterprises who must all complete their Strategic Plans by December 2018, without fail,” she said.
The Environment and Tourism Minister also took the opportunity to warn ministry official against engaging in corrupt activities adding that they should judiciously use public funds.
“As a Ministry, we will not tolerate abuse of public funds and slothness that has characterised some Parastatals in the past. We need to foster a culture of accountability and a culture of service delivery. This is the thrust of the Second Republic and I will religiously enforce it,” she said.
