Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa says the SADC bloc cannot afford to fall behind in the new and fast-changing frontier of science, technology, and innovation.

This is as SADC intra-trade levels become worrisome.

President Mnangagwa assumed the chairmanship of SADC with a call to the citizenry to remain unapologetic and confident in their quest for sustainable development.

In line with Zimbabwe's government mantra that it is open for business, but on their terms, the new regional chair believes in the same resolute approach for the bloc, even with foreign investment.

During its tenure as chair, Zimbabwe plans to increase awareness of the critical role of innovation in promoting and deepening regional integration efforts.

President Mnangagwa thus challenged the institutions of higher learning in SADC to strengthen linkages.

The intra-regional trade stands at a low of about 23%, according to the latest statistics for the region released by the Secretariat.

This is an indication that SADC countries trade more with the rest of the world than they do amongst themselves.

According to SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi, one of the culprits driving these low levels of intra-regional trade is the usual non-tariff barriers.

Despite zero import duty on 85% of products traded among SADC Member States, intra-SADC importers and exporters continue to encounter new and long-standing unresolved non-tariff barriers.

Magosi therefore called on the different states to re-dedicate their collective efforts to implement measures to reduce these barriers and promote intra-regional cooperation.

SADC has a combined GDP of US$841 billion and a market of 389 million people.