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Victoria Falls Reporter
PROPERTY rights of foreign investors in the country will be protected by the Government through legal frameworks which safeguard them, the Prosecutor-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, said.
In an interview on the sidelines of the 4th Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac) legal forum in Victoria Falls on Tuesday, Mr Tomana said Zimbabwe was turning into a safe and attractive destination for foreign direct investment because of legal frameworks in place.
“Yes foreign investments in the country are protected and that is why Zimbabwe has become a destination of choice in terms of attracting foreign direct investments. In particular you will find for example that China itself is comfortable in investing with us and the major reason being that no investment can arrive in the country and starts to perform without it being secured under specific agreements,” he said.
Mr Tomana added: “You will recall that we have a lot of bilateral investment protection agreements we are working under and you will find that we are before international arbitration centres, which we have agreements with that protect investments in the country. So yes foreign investment in the country is much protected.”
Mr Tomana said the Focac meeting was also trying to come up with resolutions for the protection of investments in the country and Africa at large.
“We also have these types of fora which come up with resolutions settling mechanisms which are legal,” he said.
The judiciary arm of the State, Mr Tomana said, was also working effectively to provide a fall back in case of disputes to do with investment arising.
Meanwhile, in his welcome remarks, Mr Tomana said Focac was a platform established by China and African countries for the promotion of collective consultation and cooperation for the well-being of member States.
“The purpose of the forum is to promote dialogue, cooperation and exchange with a view to seeking mutual reinforcement and common development in the legal field which is of immediate concern. It is of principal significance for the member states to find collaborative paths in development in the field of trade and investment through this grouping,” said Mr Tomana.
Addressing the same delegates, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Lin Lin said Focac was a great opportunity to promote consultation and cooperation between China and African countries at governmental and academic levels.
“China-Africa legal cooperation is an essential part of China-Africa cooperation. With the increasingly close cooperation between China and Africa, the past three Focac legal forums have achieved fruitful results. Last March, the new Beijing administration led by President Xi Jinping made Africa one of his destinations of foreign visits, presenting a new opportunity for the growth of China-Africa relations,” said Mr Lin.
“To this end, the legal forum plays an essential role for China and African countries in upholding judicial justice and fairness as well as helping each other improve judicial systems.”
Focac is an official legal forum between the People’s Republic of China and the states in Africa.
It is being attended by attorney-generals, chief justices, judges, law officers and representatives of international organisations from Africa and China.
There have been a number of fora held to date, with the most recent meeting having occurred in July in Beijing, China. Previous summits were held in October 2000 in Beijing, December 2003 in Addis Ababa, November 2006 in Beijing, and November 2009 Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Online Reporter