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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THREE foreign ambassadors who attended the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce annual congress in Victoria Falls have pledged to support President Mnangagwa in his vision to transform the country into an upper middle class economy by 2030.
Delivering solidarity messages in the presence of President Mnangagwa at the ZNCC opening ceremony on Thursday, Ambassadors James Musoni of Rwanda, Janet Bessong Odeka of Nigeria and Toshiyuki Iwado of Japan said their countries are readily available to help Zimbabwe realise its vision.
The ambassadors challenged Zimbabwe to implement policy changes to suit economic demands.
Ambassador Musoni said Zimbabwe stands to benefit a lot from the Rwandan story of development especially in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
“As Rwanda we commend President Mnangagwa’s vision of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030 and also the mantra Zimbabwe is open for business. We are committed to make a humble contribution and support His Excellency to realise this vision,” said Ambassador Musoni.
He said Rwanda and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial relations.
Ambassador Musoni said President Mnangagwa’s presence at the chamber of commerce was a demonstration of his support for the private sector which gives confidence to both the economy and investors.
He said industry is a key player in the development of the economy and urged Zimbabwe to take a leaf from Rwanda in the agriculture and manufacturing industries where some laws were realigned, a development that helped transform the East African country.
Ambassador Odeka said Nigeria stands with Zimbabwe and implored citizens to be proactive in policy implementation.
“Each country has its economic problems and we have had ours but by the Grace of God we went through them. We stand by Zimbabwe in your economic and political journey. We are friends and ready, if you need any advice or help especially in fighting corruption we can co-operate because we have an institution for that,” she said.
Her Japanese counterpart Iwado said the Asian country will support President Mnangagwa on his mantra, Zimbabwe is open for business and vision for a middle income economy by 2030.
“Government needs to implement some policies to realise its goals and as such the current policies that hinder growth need to be drastically reviewed,” he said.
Ambassador Iwado said Japan will continue to promote business ties with Zimbabwe through among other initiatives cultural, academic and sporting ties.
South Africa Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mphakama Mbete attended the conference although he did not attend the opening session. − @ncubeleon
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