Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa on Wednesday morning received the Credentials of Ambassador-designate Mr Ihar Marshalau of the Republic of Belarus, at Statehouse in Harare.
Last year in January Belarusian President Lukashenko held a historic three-day State visit to Zimbabwe during which several deals were signed.
Belarus, the world’s largest dairy producer per capital, boasts new technologies for production, processing and marketing of dairy products. It also has plans to establish a state-of-the-art dairy facility in Zimbabwe to improve national milk production.
Milk production in Zimbabwe is now expanding at a rate of 36 percent this year as support by the Government to dairy farmers continues to bear fruit. From an output of 75 million litres of raw milk in 2020, the country’s dairy farmers now produce around 91,4 million litres.
The visit by President Lukashenko to Zimbabwe was a first of its kind to Sub-Saharan Africa and signified Zimbabwe’s growing global influence and success of President Mnangagwa’s policy of “a friend to all and enemy to none” and also the Zimbabwe is Open for Business Mantra.
During the visit, Zimbabwe and Belarus signed eight bilateral agreements in the areas of education, agriculture and economic cooperation.
The two leaders also launched the Second Phase of the Farm Mechanisation Programme and Zimbabwe took delivery of an additional 1 300 tractors, 14 combine harvesters and disc harrows.
The first phase saw 474 tractors, 60 combine harvesters, 210 planters and 5 low-bed trucks being delivered to the country and distributed to farmers through the Land Bank and CBZ.
Sidumisile Mabena