Online Reporter
Fungi Kwaramba in MINSK, Belarus
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa will today lead the Zimbabwe delegation for formal talks with the Belarusian team led by his counterpart Aleksandar Lukashenko to advance trade and economic cooperation as well as open new frontiers of collaboration in the health sector.
The President is in Belarus on a four-day State Visit that will today culminate in the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and Memoranda of Agreement (MoA).
In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said the visit to the Republic of Belarus signifies the importance of international cooperation, particularly in the prism of President Mnangagwa’s pillar foreign policy of engagement and re-engagement.
“The visit also focuses on how best we can deepen our economic and international relations ties, in a lot of areas which include, women and small to medium enterprises capacitation,” he said.
Dr Muswere added that the ongoing recapitalisation in agriculture with the aid of Belarus is a critical component of retooling the sector, with farmers getting vital implements such as combined harvesters and tractors, tools which are enablers in the country’s quest to achieve food security.
In particular, Dr Muswere said the Belarusian Tractors Agreement has been catalytic to the increased harvests, food security and sovereignty back home.
The minister added that Zimbabwe is seeking to tap into Belarus’ technological advances in agriculture as well as health, through increased investment and capacitation.
“One of the issues is the discussions around how best we can come up with a sustainable financial and economic architecture in order to support macro-economic growth in our respective countries,” said Dr Muswere.
“One of the agreements also looks at how best we can recapitalise our hospitals, the modernisation of our hospitals. In the case of Zimbabwe, that is the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, the modernisation and capacitation and recapitalisation of the central hospital, and many other district and provincial health institutions.”
Apart from looking at the health sector, the discussions are also expected to focus on the media industry in both countries.
“The discussions also focus on how best we can modernise our media industry, the focus is on content sharing, human capital development and also how best we can work together in order to enhance our media technological sovereignty,” said Dr Muswere.
The minister said the visit is also exploring human capital development as well as exchange of media and communication experiences between the two countries.
“There is a need for media sovereignty to protect, advance and defend the information flow within our respective countries,” he said.
“There is also a need to be wary of manifest social media imperialism. This will also be underlined through signing of MoUs and MoAs.”
Yesterday, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube held a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Yury Mikhailovich Seliverstov, where they discussed issues around promoting trade between the two countries.
Prof Ncube said during the meeting they discussed a wide range of issues, including the global economy as well as the unjust economic sanctions that are affecting both Zimbabwe and Belarus.
“It was rather specific on how to work around the external debt aspect through our debt dialogue platform,” he said.
Prof Ncube said the meeting also zeroed in on how to attract investment from Belarus, especially in areas of truck and tractor manufacturing and also lithium battery development.
“What’s happening on the trade front, we should be able to push towards establishing trading warehouses in Belarus and also in Zimbabwe to promote trade between the two countries, but also to promote investment.
“The one good thing is that Belarus has got the Belarusian Development Bank, which is providing export funds to Belarusian companies that they wish to establish in Zimbabwe, trade in Zimbabwe. So this clearly is creating a wonderful opportunity in terms of financial support and foreign trade into Zimbabwe.
“But we will explore more areas. For example, as you know, we are strong in the area of horticulture, and that is moving up in the world, flower industry, blueberries and avocados. And you know our coffee is also very special, so I wouldn’t mind coming back to Belarus to also have a sip of Zimbabwean coffee at some wonderful Belarusian restaurant,” said Prof Ncube.
On his part, Minister Seliverstov said Belarus stands ever ready to deepen trade with Zimbabwe.
“We discussed with my colleague minister issues around promoting trade in different spheres such as agriculture, industry and many other areas where we can invest in Zimbabwe
“High attention was paid to investments and to industrial production in Zimbabwe. It is very important that in this activity, the role of ministries of finance of both countries is crucial to help our countries to become more financially sustainable.”
There was also a Business Roundtable that was attended by officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mutapa Investments Fund, Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA), Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), ZimTrade and AVM Buses.
Belarusian participants included officials from the National Centre for Marketing, National Tourism Agency, Aftrade DMCC, Solid pipe System, Meat Dairy and Logistic Company OJSC and Beltamozhservice RUE among others.
ZimTrade CEO Allan Majuru said the purpose of the roundtable was to make sure that private companies are involved with their Belarusian counterparts.
“We are discussing issues to do with us also tapping into the scientific and economic cooperation. They have got good technology, a lot of equipment that we can tap into to make sure that our industry is very, very competitive. There is a lot of trade and sending of goods that is happening and our discussions are now centred on making sure that there is the local assembly and even manufacturing of all the equipment in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Today, President Mnangagwa is expected to lead the talks on behalf of Zimbabwe and preside over the signing of the several deals that are on the table.
