Chronicle Editor
Harare Bureau
FOREIGN Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr Frederick Shava, says the cordial bilateral trade relations between Zimbabwe and Rwanda are poised for faster growth.
He called for speedy implementation of several trade and cooperation agreements signed, earlier, between the two nations.
Speaking during the Zimbabwe-Rwanda Trade Investment conference in Harare yesterday, Minister Shava said the meeting was aimed at enhancing trade relations.
“We are signing more Memorandums of Understanding (MoU’s) in the areas of economic, trade and investment cooperation.
“This is a clear testimony to our commitment to making sure that the relations between the two countries produce results as quickly as possible and I am urging all parties involved to expedite the implementation of these and other previously signed agreements,” he said.
He said the trade and investment conference was reciprocal following the inaugural Zimbabwe-Rwanda investment and trade indaba, which was held in Rwanda in September last year and attended by over 100 business people and officials from the public sector.
The minister welcomed more than 60 member delegations coming from Rwanda with a desire to explore trade and investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.
He said during the Kigali conference, four MoUs were signed between the governments of Zimbabwe and Rwanda in the areas of agriculture, livestock, ICTs, e-Government, tourism and business, environment and climate change.
Also, an MoU was signed between the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and Rwanda Private Sector Federation.
Rwandan Minister of Trade and Industry, Beata Habyarimana, said Zimbabwe’s trade investment body ZimTrade and the Rwanda Board initiated the important forum to promote bi-lateral trade and investment opportunities.
“The conference is coming at an opportune time when the bi-lateral relationship we are forging between the countries is growing,” she said.
“Our cooperation has grown exponentially in the last five years with several agreements signed in various common areas of interest such as education, energy, industry, agriculture, mineral resources, ICTs, tourism as well as construction.”
The first engagement between Zimbabwe and Rwanda was held virtually in March 2021 and this set the impetus for cooperation.
ZimTrade chief executive, Mr Allan Majuru, said the conference, being held under the theme “Explore, Invest and Export” shows how the trade agency has been working closely between Rwanda and Zimbabwe on investment, tourism and trade.
“From our end, we thought it is prudent to work with Rwanda so that our exports grow. Exports between the two countries are currently insignificant, therefore, we are finding a way to grow between the two nations,” he said.
According to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the target is to grow exports by 10 percent every year up to 2023.
Mr Majuru said last year, the country achieved 13 percent growth in exports, which is above the national target of 10 percent.
He said last year during a conference in Rwanda, the country generated business deals worth US$10 million. These include exporting of chilli to Rwanda while CAFCA has managed to push about three truckloads of cables into Rwanda.
Mr Zephanie Niyonkuru, deputy chief executive of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said if Zimbabwe tapped into the Rwanda economy, it would have automatically tapped into the east Africa regional market of more than 170 million people.
Online Reporter