Online Reporter
Mukudzei Chingwere
Senior Reporter
A LEADING Indian business lobby group, with a membership controlling funds running into billions of dollars, yesterday presented its case for investment into the Zimbabwean economy to Acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an umbrella body that brings together multisectoral businesses in India, is in the country seeking to leverage good fraternal relations between the two countries into mutually beneficial economic cooperation.
The delegation’s visit to the country comes in the wake of Vice President Chiwenga having led Zimbabwean delegations last year to the Africa Conclave on India-Africa Partnership and the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India, where he also took the opportunity to meet several Indian investors.
Indian captains of industry, fund managers and entrepreneurs took a huge interest in Zimbabwe’s opportunities after listening to a compelling pitch by the Acting President.
The visit of the Indian business delegation comes at a time when the Asian economic behemoth and the world’s fourth-largest economy is angling to ramp up its investment foothold in the country and Africa as a whole.
It also comes as President Mnangagwa has set Zimbabwe on a trajectory towards rapid economic growth towards an empowered upper-middle income economy and India is seen as one of the key investment source markets in the quest to give impetus to Zimbabwe’s economic development.
India is already one of the highest investment source markets for Zimbabwe, with interest in various sectors, but there is a huge scope to further widen this into other sectors of the economy.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Bramha Kumar said the delegation has interests in sectors like food processing, information communication and technology, health, financial services, water infrastructure, automobiles and infrastructure development, among others.
“This delegation is seeking to identify partners across various sectors to facilitate processing operations here in Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Kumar.
“This collaboration presents a win-win opportunity for both countries, and we anticipate an increase in investments flowing into Zimbabwe. During my stay here for the past one and a half years, this is the third biggest Indian business delegation, and this is the second delegation from the CII.
“These close interactions between our businesses have seen our trade basket moving upwards, last year Zimbabwe touched around US$50 million of exports to India and I want to see that figure going upwards. Our investment here is more than US$600 million.
“The Indian private investment has been encouraging for Zimbabwe and they are giving employment to more than 20 000 Zimbabweans,” said Ambassador Kumar.
He said Zimbabwe and India share a rich history of bilateral relations dating back to the 15th century and now, both countries aim to evolve this partnership into the economic sphere.
Ambassador Kumar also said India is actively supporting Zimbabwe’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council next year.
Head of the delegation Dr Soji Pooveli said they have been so impressed by the Government’s willingness for partnerships and is convinced the membership will walk away with investment opportunities and agreements from the visit.
“The Acting President has done excellent coordination at this point. After this meeting, we are planning to continue our discussions. We understand that you have great potential, especially as we have navigated this period of economic revival,” said Dr Pooveli.
“I was here a month ago and noticed for the first time that you have mangoes available during a time when they are out of season elsewhere in the world. This presents a significant opportunity for export, and I understand there is potential for huge export growth.
“Our goal is to create food security, we want to create food at the farm, process it and value-add it there and we will continue these interactions. Tomorrow (today), we will meet with other businesses to explore further opportunities,” said Dr Pooveli.
