The Sunday Mail
Susan Muzite
Zimbabwe will next month host the 11th Zimbabwe International Research symposium. The event comes at a time when the country is pushing for the stimulation of entrepreneurial innovations and economic growth through research.The Sunday Mail will from this week run a series of articles as a build up to the event. Below is a transcription of an interview conducted by our Deputy News Editor Levi Mukarati and the Research Council of Zimbabwe executive director Mrs Susan Muzite.
The Research Council of Zimbabwe is pleased to host the Zimbabwe International Research Symposium from 16 to 17 February 2017 in Harare.
This event is a bi-annual event, the first one was held in 1988. However, we have had periods of economic difficulties and that explains the gaps.
In recent times, research council has prioritised this event. This is why in 2017, we are ready to host the event having last held another one in 2015. Before I get into much detail, I think it is prudent to highlight where we are coming from.
Research Council of Zimbabwe is a statutory body established in terms of the Research Act Chapter 10:22. It is mandated to promote, direct, supervise and co-ordinate research in the country.
The symposium is in line with promotion of research. Research Council of Zimbabwe is organising this symposium in order to popularise research and provide a platform for the dissemination and documentation of that research.
So the council is providing this platform for Zimbabweans to access new knowledge produced in this country to improve whatever they are doing and be able to compete with other players locally, regionally and internationally.
Various research has been conducted and we feel it needs to get to industry, commerce, policy makers and other users.
The world has also become a global village in which collaboration in research is gaining importance, hence this platform is also to allow the networking and engagement among researchers and users of research results.
We are confident Zimbabweans have come up with various researches that need to be known in promoting investment in the country.
To elaborate on that I would give an example of a team of researchers that have come up with new knowledge envisaged to promote a certain good.
An investor from wherever they are in the world will want to work with those researchers and this will be done in this country and hence we will have elements of foreign direct investment.
So this is one of the objectives of the symposium.
Specifically, the symposium will be a platform for research results to be brought to entrepreneurs.
Zimbabwe is teeming with entrepreneurs who have lots of energy and lots of new ideas that need to be supported by scientific knowledge.
Therefore we seek to enable researchers and decision makers at all levels including entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world to exchange information, research findings and ideas for unlocking wealth.
Hence, entrepreneurs and the knowledge generators must come and connect at this platform so that they get scientific sound ideas for mentoring engagement to produce goods for the Zimbabwe market, for the SADC market, for Africa and for the world to change the economic figures.
Zimbabweans need to know that we must embrace new knowledge and use it to come up with high standard goods and services.
The country has everything it needs from research, people with the will power to improve the economy, so we are saying we now want to connect the dots and get tangible goals.
We have the universities producing world class knowledge, scientific knowledge and a highly educated population that needs an improvement in their standards of living.
As a council, we are saying we have financial challenges in the country, but we must forge ahead, that is why we are providing a subsidised platform for various partners to come and exchange ideas.
Thus, there will be a registration fee, but it has been subsidised by the council.
In Zimbabwe we have the systems to change the economic situation and our entrepreneurs need to be equipped with the relevant knowledge to act and change economic figures positively.
The indaba will also promote smart partnerships among researchers, entrepreneurs and other users of research results.
We are glad that the event will attract participants from Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, India and the United States of America.
The event is within the confines of ZimAsset and the third listed key success factor of ZimAsset is research and development.
The four clusters in the economic blueprint are complemented by the national research priority themes espoused by the Research Council of Zimbabwe.
The symposium will provide scientific knowledge to be used in the attainment of the goals of ZimAsset.
Mrs Susan Muzite writes in her capacity as the Research Council of Zimbabwe executive director
