Three envoys present letters of credence to President

ACCREDITED ambassadors from Bangladesh, Peru and Mauritania presented their letters of credence to President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare yesterday.

The ambassadors were Shah Ahmed Shafi of Bangladesh, Jose Javier Augusto Shaw of Peru and Amedi Camara of Mauritania.

In an interview after his closed-door meeting with the President, Ambassador Shafi said his country was looking to open an Embassy in Harare “in the not-so-distant future”.

“Actually, we started our diplomatic relations in 1981,” he said.

“We will open our diplomatic mission in Harare.

“We are planning because with the growth of the economy, we are opening up in some African countries and Latin American countries.”

Ambassador Shafi also said cricket has served as the impetus for people-to-people relations between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, as well as agriculture-centric nations.

“The people (of Bangladesh) know Zimbabwe particularly for cricket here.

“And also, we are both agricultural countries,” he said.

Bangladesh is looking to collaborate with Zimbabwe in the textile and garment-making industries.

“Now, my country is becoming an industrial country and I spoke with His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, that we will explore the possibility of cooperation, particularly in the textile and garment industries.

“Bangladesh is an amazing small country, but we are second in the world in garment manufacturing and textiles after China.

“We also produce very high-quality pharmaceutical products that we export to 160 countries in the world, including America, and Africa needs a lot of pharmaceutical products and we can provide them at a very cheap cost,” he said.

Ambassador Shaw began by congratulating Zimbabwe on its election to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member.

“I would like to congratulate the Government and the people of Zimbabwe for the election yesterday (Wednesday) as a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations,” he said.

This year marks 40 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Zimbabwe and Peru.

The diplomat said Peru is looking to collaborate with Zimbabwe in various areas, including mining and agriculture.

“The last opportunity that a Peruvian ambassador presented credentials here in Zimbabwe was in 1997, almost 29 years ago.

“Well, we discussed with His Excellency the President the possibility of strengthening and deepening our bilateral relations in many sectors, such as the mining sector, the agricultural sector, but also the possibilities in the cultural and academic sectors.

“We also share a great experience in tourism. The idea is to work together and on an international level, Peru is open to cooperating with Zimbabwe for success in New York, in the United Nations, because we share the same challenges and also we share the same positions on many, many topics,” he said.

Ambassador Camara said Mauritania is looking to collaborate with Zimbabwe in several sectors, including education and peace and security.