Chronicle Editor
Wallace Ruzvidzo, Harare Bureau
MOZAMBICAN President, Filipe Nyusi will today officially open the 114th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare.
The week-long event started yesterday, with hundreds of people, including children, visiting the exhibition stands and partaking in the activities on offer.
By yesterday afternoon, those who had not finished erecting their stands were putting final touches ahead of the official opening.
The show is running under the theme: “Cultivating prosperity. Growing business. Innovating for change. Nurturing our future.”
Foreign exhibitors from India, South Africa, Zambia, Pakistan,Eswatini, Japan, Russia, Mozambique, China, Malawi and Tanzania are participating.
As of last week, 430 exhibitors had taken space compared to 410 exhibitors last year.
The show is expected to feature the National Agribusiness Conference, the Environmental, Social and Governance Conference, the Research for Agricultural Excellence Indaba and the Diplomatic Network Business Conference.
Sports and entertainment have been lined up with artists and musicians set to perform.
Exhibitors and those who visited the show yesterday expressed optimism and confidence in this year’s edition.
Ms Elizabeth Nkhwazi, who is the managing director of a Malawian company, said she was confident that she would get opportunities for beneficial partnerships. This is the third time that her company is participating at the ZAS, signalling the value it has derived from participating in the previous two years.
“We chose to come to exhibit in Zimbabwe because we are in agribusiness and this is an agriculture show and it’s within our region, the SADC region. We have exhibited at ZAS before and we have made a few deals and we are anticipating that this year we will make more deals for us to supply things that we supply,” said Ms Nkhwazi.
“We have the Kilombero rice, corn and nuts. We are also dealing in beans. We have honey. As you can see, we have various products made in Malawi, produced in Malawi and so, we are trying to find more markets, we are trying to expand our market reach.
”This is actually our third year. So, it must be a very good time. Yes, we have had and seen some benefits coming that is why we keep on attending”.
A Northcot Secondary School learner said the tour he had done around exhibition stands had been eye opening as he had learnt a lot.
“Mukoma (my brother), this is a very good experience for me because I have learnt a lot today, I have also seen a lot and it has been more than I imagined.
“The last time I came here I was still very young, so I do not remember a lot but now that I have grown up, I have been able to appreciate everything today,” he said.
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