Zimbabwe, which has adopted an engagement and re-engagement policy to guide the Government’s drive to improve the country’s bilateral relations with countries across the globe, continues to record significant progress.
The country has declared that it is a friend to all and an enemy to none. Zimbabwe has, as a result of its new foreign policy, strengthened bilateral ties with most African countries as well as others across the globe.
President Mnangagwa, who is leading this Second Republic’s diplomatic offensive, last month took advantage of his presence in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81) to engage both political and business leaders from different countries as he promoted Zimbabwe’s engagement and re-engagement policy.
He emphasised during his many meetings in New York that Zimbabwe which is a friend to all and an enemy to none, was Open for Business.
This week President Mnangagwa is leading a high powered delegation which is in Russia for the third Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum. Since his arrival in Russia, President Mnangagwa and his delegation have engaged a number of Russian institutions in a bid to strengthen relations between the two countries.
The President has since challenged Zimbabwean and Russian institutions to move from signing agreements to implementing tangible projects that impact the lives of ordinary citizens from the two countries.
He said now that the relationship between Zimbabwe and Russian has been given political direction by the two Governments, the institutions from both countries should now give it practical expression.
“Our collective efforts must benefit the economies of both our countries and have tangible impact on the daily lives of our people,” said President Mnangagwa.
To drive implementation, President Mnangagwa proposed the establishment of a joint technical working group comprising PSB Bank of the Russian Federation, Zimbabwe’s ministries of Finance and Economic Development and Investment Promotion as well as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe which has abundant natural resources such as minerals is obviously set to benefit a lot from big economies such as that of the Russian Federation.
It is our hope that institutions from the two countries will move swiftly to implement projects that benefit the people.
President Mnangagwa and his delegation are taking advantage of the engagement meetings in Russia to market Zimbabwe as an investment destination of choice.
The country is not only enjoying macroeconomic stability but has also recorded an economic growth of 8,3 percent.
The strong performance of the local currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) which has seen the country recording single digits inflation since January this year, is expected to excite investors from
countries such as Russia.
Government and the private sector on their part should continue to work jointly to improve the business operating environment so that potential investors attracted to the country do not hesitate to commit their capital.
