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investor, Touchroad International Group, for his contribution towards African/Chinese economic development co-operation.
The Africa/Chinese Economic Development Co-operation Award comes a few months after Minister Mzembi won the Africa Investor Tourism Minister of the Year 2010 and a year after he was voted into the United Nations World Tourism Organisation executive council.
Other Zimbabwean nominees, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China Frederick Shava and Ministers Tapiwa Mashakada (Economic Planning and Investment Promotion) and Priscillah Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Regional and International Co-operation) received special recognition of their nomination.
The awards were presented at the just-concluded China-Africa Investment Forum organised by the Touchroad International Group in Shanghai, China.
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Minister Mzembi, chairman of the African Ministers, delivered one of the keynote addresses at the forum and co-chaired a number of plenary sessions.
In his keynote address, Minister Mzembi noted that China was, in many respects, Africa’s all-weather friend.
“China played such a key role in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle that it was only expected that it would play an equally important role in its economic development,” he said.
He urged Africa to advance as rapidly as possible on the regional economic integration path, as that was the only way it could become a significant player on the global economic scene.
Minister Mzembi reiterated his assertion that Africa, with its expansive biodiversity and still hugely unadulterated indigenous cultures, had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of developed countries, whose development models have squandered most of their biodiversity and replaced it with steel and concrete jungles.
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“Africa can avoid the catastrophic path taken by the developed world, which has led to climate change with its disastrous consequences,” he said.
Minister Mzembi reminded the gathering that Zimbabwe had “the most attractive climate on the globe”. He lamented the fact that Africa was often perceived as a homogeneous tourism and investment destination by the developed world, yet it was constituted by more than 50 different entities.
“African countries therefore have to be mindful that liability by one country easily leads to collateral damage to the African brand.”
He emphasised that the African product had to measure up to international standards, while retaining its African character.
“A five-star hotel in Africa must be of the same standard as a five-star hotel in Europe, China or elsewhere,” he said.
Online Reporter