BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is organising a diaspora conference in a bid to lure Zimbabwean nationals working abroad to development the country’s second largest city.
Speaking to Southern Eye, BCC economic development officer Kholisani Moyo said the main aim for the conference was to market the City of Bulawayo for the purpose of development and investment.
“We want to organise the diaspora conference in Bulawayo in September this year before the Sanganai/Hlangani Tourism Expo and we are in discussion with the Minister of Provincial and Devolution Affairs,” he said.
Moyo said they needed to hold the conference in Bulawayo to be able to showcase what their city could offer to investors.
“We attended the Matabeleland South Diaspora Conference and it was an eye-opener for us as during the event, we were able to market our city as we discovered that raw materials are abundant in that province,” he said.
“We were able to market that in our city, we are able to process those raw materials so that they can come to our city for processing the materials.”
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Moyo said they discovered that convening a diaspora conference in Bulawayo would enable them to engage stakeholders who are keen to invest in the city.
“The Matabeleland South Diaspora conference was a learning experience for us to prepare for our own conference and be able to attract investors so that we can develop our city,” he said.
Moyo said the conference would be used to unveil opportunities the diaspora could take advantage of to develop the city.