ZIMTRADE has embarked on a programme to train young entrepreneurs to produce products that can be exported. BY PATRICIA SIBANDA This was revealed by Zimtrade facilitator Velile Dube last Thursday during a Southern Region Eagles Nest training programme in Bulawayo. Dube said young entrepreneurs needed skills to be able to become big exporters. He also said that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) needed to learn the language of international exporters. “The idea is to take those entrepreneurs who think locally to go beyond just thinking locally. “We want them to enter the international export market. “Look at the large corporates like Schweppes they started locally, all big multinational companies started locally and they then thought of expanding outside the borders,” he said. Zimtrade associate trainer Keith Heywood said the training would assist the young entrepreneurs to bring foreign currency into the country through exports. “The idea is to equip SMEs so that they don’t succeed in Zimbabwe only, but they succeed outside Zimbabwe. “That is what Zimtrade is all about so that they are able to trade and export primarily in foreign currency,” Heywood said. He said social media was pivotal in assisting local entrepreneurs to become visible internationally.