Online Reporter
Mukudzei Chingwere in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
ZIMBABWE and South Africa will convene their 4th BiNational Commission in January next year in South Africa, with an eye on entrenching cooperation and mutually beneficial value addition.
The decision to hold the BNC was reached at a meeting between Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga and South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
The BNC comes on the back of the last one held in Harare in 2019, where officials discussed the implementation of 45 bilateral agreements straddling sectors in trade, investment, migration, health among others.
South Africa remains Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner, constituting approximately 46 percent of Zimbabwe’s total imports and around 30 percent of the country’s total exports.
This forthcoming BNC is anticipated to pave the way for intensified collaboration, addressing critical economic sectors and fostering deeper ties between the two nations particularly in value addition as both countries seek to make the most from their resources.
“We discussed our bilateral relations. We started with the BiNational Commission which will be held next year where we will review a number of issues in all economic sectors that and all the enablers that will propel our economic cooperation which is energy, the logistics system,” said VP Chiwenga.
“We discussed on deeper cooperation in beneficiation and value addition be it in mining or agriculture. We want to send processed products not raw materials; our countries are not for extraction.
“They also informed us that they will start working on the repatriation of the Zimbabwe bird and the remains of the sculls of our people which are still here,” said VP Chiwenga.
He said Zimbabwe supports the G20 Presidency of South Africa and has come here not only to support their neighbour, but also to get an ear of this grouping.
“We support South Africa’s G20 leadership, and I conveyed to the Deputy President, President Mnangagwa’s congratulations and message of support to President Ramaphosa,” said VP Chiwenga.
“The G20 is a very important organisation, made up of 19 countries, the European union and has since 2023 added the African union thus bringing together 85 percent of global Gross Domestic Product, 75 percent of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.
“We are not a member but we will help to put an African position on this important group,” said VP Chiwenga.
Deputy President Mashatile thanked Zimbabwe for coming to support South Africa’s G20 Presidency by attending a Summit.
“We have just completed our brief discussions on important issues between our two countries we have agreed that we will have our BiNational Commission in early January,” said DP Mashatile.
“We are going to look at various issues of the economy particularly how we can work together issues of critical minerals, also issues of migration policy and others issues we think are very important to our two countries.
“South Africa appreciates the support we are receiving from Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe particularly our leadership of SADC at the moment, dealing with issues of Madagascar, the DRC and Mozambique and others place we are having a very strong support from the people of Zimbabwe,” said Deputy President Mashatile.
