Zim trade ‘picking up’

22 Jan 2014 - by Liesl Venter

Business in Zimbabwe is
picking up and agents working
at the border are reporting a more
stable working environment than
ever before.
According to Lara Luis,
Easyclear’s branch representative
in Messina near the South Africa
and Zimbabwe borders, the
outlook for 2014
is extremely
positive.
“Agents
working at the
border had
a very good
2013,” said Luis.
“Trade seems
to have picked
up compared to
the last couple
of years and
I think 2014
will be even better than 2013.
Zimbabwe’s business environment
has definitely stabilised in the
past year.”
Easyclear offers a fully
integrated yet modular
solution to the logistics supply
chain, encompassing all
facets of customs brokerage
and forwarding, covering all
modalities and declaration types.
This includes the
capacity to produce
and communicate
via EDI the
manifest and
customs declaration to South
African Revenue Service (Sars),
and the ability to integrate with
third party software solutions
within the supply chain and
accounts functions of a client’s
business.
Luis said while dealing
with customs in Zimbabwe
remained challenging at
times, major efforts were
under way to improve the
situation.
“Sars also seems to be
making headway in
its dealings with
Zimbabwe and
has been working
very closely
with officials
with regard to
changes at the
border post.
These are all
very positive
developments
and bode well
for trade,” she
said.