By Own Correspondent| Government is engaging a German firm for the production of vehicle licence plates under a deal expected to significantly reduce costs by 50 percent.

The deal, is also expected to enable the firm to set up 10 manufacturing plants in the country.

A state media report said the engagement with the German vehicle license plate manufacturer follows the crisis that hit the Central Vehicle Registration (CVR) last month that resulted in a critical shortage on the domestic market.

The foreign player Erich Utsch AG proposed a $20 million venture that will be spread into setting up manufacturing plants across provinces effectively leading unique identification of the plates with each province.

According to the business development manager Vyacheslav Krivorotenko, their investment footprint into the Zimbabwean market will spread over the next 15 years and will lead to huge cost cuts for the nation incurred from importing the registration plates from offshore markets.

The estimated cost of production under this is pegged at $30 with proposals for the final cost of the product at $65 which will be a significant reduction from the current price of $80.-StateMedia