Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini has challenged the MTN Bushfire to double the money it injects into the economy next year. Dlamini said this yesterday during the official opening of the MTN Bushfire Festival at Malkerns.
This was after his interviewer Phiwo Dhlamini challenged him to state what figure he would encourage the festival to make following that last year they injected E121.2 million into the economy. The PM said that was a high-risk question to ask him, especially at the current moment as the country was pushing to go mega this year.
“I would encourage them to double that,” said Dlamini, which means that the expectation is that the festival contributes at least E242 million. The PM, who was accompanied by Liqoqo Chairman Paul Dlamini, said in actual fact he knew very little about the Bushfire Festival when compared to international people.
“Whenever I travel and people hear I am from Eswatini, they always tell me that they have been to the country and have actually attended the festival,” said Dlamini. He said in some instances, they even ask him for tickets and he always tells them that the tickets are actually sold out even before the next festival.
He said the festival was a great event, especially because government had a plan to promote the country in every possible way. He highlighted that just slightly a year ago, government had a target of one million visitors, but had already broken into the two million mark.
“Right now we are setting ourselves a target of five million visitors and I am sure we can achieve that,” said Dlamini.
The PM thanked all the stall owners and exhibitors, in particular locals, for all the work they have done into setting up the event. He said the creatives were very crucial in making the event a huge success. The PM observed that this year’s festival was even bigger and better as he had noticed that even the car park seemed to have been extended.
“I am impressed by the products and talents which I have seen on display, in particular the ones made by locals,” said Dlamini.
The PM arrived at the festival just after 5pm and was met by the acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Dudu Masina-Nhlengentfwa, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Mzwandile Mthethwa and Bushfire Director Jiggs Thorne. He was also met by acting MTN Chief Executive Officer Jerry Soko.
The PM said he was ready to bring his fire and hoped to return to the venue today to view more stalls.
