THE ZANU PF 18th National People’s Conference theme‘Mechanise, Modernise and Grow the Economy TowardsVision 2030’, speaks to the journey the country has totraverse to attain upper middle-income status by 2030,according to the ZANU PF Secretary for AdministrationCde Obert Mpofu.Cde Mpofu said the theme was formulated with a clearunderstanding of the issues affecting growth in varioussectors of the economy. Among the issues is continued use of antiquatedmachinery by industry in the production of goods hencethe ‘Mechanise and Modernise’ aspect in the theme.The governing ZANU PF Government under the leadershipof President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has prioritisedretooling of local industry in order to bolster economicactivity and make the country more attractive to investors.Modernising and mechanising operations in the varioussectors of the economy will ensure goods and services areprovided to consumers at affordable prices. Said Cde Mpofu: “The theme basically summarises thewhole agenda of the 18th National People’s Conferencewhich is about the economy and productivity.“The theme focuses on productivity and in order to do thatwe need to mechanise and innovate in the various sectorsof the economy. “Modernising is in the sense that we are behind so we aretrying to move away from old methods of production andaddress the latest methods. “Just look at the Smart Agriculture concept and how allthe value chain players are incorporated and speak to each other.“Already we have witnessed how the Party through itswings have tried to modernise and mechanise theirprojects. “For instance, we have the Youth League who acquiredmodern mining equipment for their operations and thishas gone a long way in enhancing productivity amongartisanal miners.”Cde Mpofu said the Conference will also take stock ofprogress made in implementing resolutions made at lastyear’s Conference in Esigodini.Further, he said, the Conference will review the country’seconomic performance as the Party was keen to improvethe livelihoods of people as espoused in the 2018 People’sManifesto.“We shall take the opportunity to review how far we havegone implementing resolutions of the last Conference,”he said. “Our particular concern is on the economic frontas we can only be successful if people have food andsustainable livelihoods. “We have successful projects we are running as theParty such as the bakeries projects spearheaded by theWomen’s League. “On the Government side, significant efforts are beingmade towards reviving and building new irrigationschemes.” Turning to the state of the Party Cde Mpofu said theorganisation was healthy and efforts to professionalise itsoperations had gone well.