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Mukudzei Chingwere
recently in Jakarta, Indonesia
It was supposed to be a symposium on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and all discussions could have been restricted to these social human needs.
But Zimbabwe now has bigger fish to fry.
Hers, as laid out by President Mnangagwa, is what pessimists thought was an insurmountable journey not only towards economic revival, but boom.
To this end, all in Government have been primed to pursue economic diplomacy in the execution of their duties.
Against this background, when Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Constantino Chiwenga, set-off for the 2022 WASH Sector Ministers Meeting, he was a man on an economic diplomatic mission.
Over and above the official programme’s business of WASH, itself a key anchor of the vision 2030 which Government is pursuing, he took time to explore other economic opportunities for the country.
Zimbabwe saw itself in negotiations for other economic enabling and aiding deals which if fulfilled as largely is expected will play a great role towards Zimbabwe’s economic revival.
Pharmaceuticals, agriculture, transport and logistics, were all on the menu in discussions held by Vice President Chiwenga’s delegation and officials from Indonesia.
Cotton, which in bygone days was colloquially referred as white gold could finally see the return of its better days following discussions that the Vice President held.
Zimbabwe’s cotton production reached its lowest in the 2015/16 agricultural season when 28,000 tons were produced.
Production rose to 143 000 tonnes in the 2017/18 season and now Zimbabwe is expecting a fivefold increase of 400,000 tonnes of cotton this farming season after Government purchased inputs worth some US$82 million to support farmers.
The main problem afflicting the cotton sector was the lack of buyers and the market sought by VP Chiwenga is seen as the ideal solution for the revival of the cotton sector.
Discussions held by the Vice President and his delegation also conversed on possibilities for Zimbabwe to buy palm oil directly from Indonesia rather than through third parties.
Prices of palm oil, crude oil and other components of petroleum have been distorted of late as a result of the disturbances occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine situation.
The two countries supply the world a bigger chunk of oil, but following economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West and United States of America, the supply chain has been affected.
Now, Zimbabwe is looking at the possibilities of buying it directly from the world’s top producers as a means of curtailing the price hikes consumers have had to confront of late.
“I have instructed the Ambassador (Sophia Nyamudeza — Zimbabwe’s envoy to Indonesia) and the Minister of Agriculture (Dr Anxious Masuka) to look into the issue of buying palm oil directly from Indonesia rather than buying it through third parties,” said VP Chiwenga.
“We use a lot of crude oil, but we buy through third parties and we want to see how that will help reduce prices to our consumers if we buy directly.”
In the health sector, Zimbabwe through its own resources capacitated local industries to boost the productive sector and look beyond their largely retail role and invest in the production of medical consumables among other things as the Government looks to boost production.
As a means to boost the scope for investment, Government assured the pharmaceuticals that state owned — Natpharm, will buy the locally produced consumables, and encouraged those in the production sector to continue doing the same until they are experts.
It is against this background that Zimbabwe could soon be a hub of medicinal drugs manufacturing for national and continental consumption following the consummation of a joint venture with Indonesia.
Indonesia’s giant medical consumable manufacturer — Bio Farma — is looking at partnering their Zimbabwean counterparts — Natpharm — to produce consumables for the African market with the manufacturing processes being done here.
Zimbabwe already manufactures medicinal drugs but is yet to venture in the critical injectable and large volume intravenous fluids sub-sector, a gap which could be closed by the mooted partnership.
The company already manufactures Covid-19 vaccines, and Zimbabwe has won international praises for their response to the global pandemic.
“As Minister of Health and Child Care, I fully welcome your interest to partner with the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (NATPHARM) which is wholly owned by the Government to manufacture pharmaceutical products including vaccines in Zimbabwe. We are ready to receive you in Zimbabwe to discuss this proposal,” said VP Chiwenga.
“We appreciate the fact that your company has a lot of experience in this area and manufactures vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and pentavalent vaccines for domestic use and for the WHO and UNICEF.
“You have modern technology and through this partnership, there will be reciprocal exchange of skills and transfer of technology to our pharmaceutical industry.”
Zimbabwe is strategically positioned within the SADC region providing a platform to create distribution into the continent under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which has a market of 1,2 billion people.
In their proposal to partner Natpharm, Bio Farma’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Honesti Basyr said they will transfer technology to their Zimbabwean counterparts.
President Mnangagwa’s vision of an upper middle income society by 2030, can only be realized if the country’s health system matches best practices as envisaged by this vision, which guarantees the security of a nation.
The availability of medicines and healthcare in any country guarantees national security hence the need by Zimbabwe to ensure best international practices are matched.
Also discussed was Indonesia’s state-owned railway company’s interest to partner the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) in a deal that could finally see the revitalisation and modernisation of the latter.
Logistics, particularly the railway line, is a key business enabler and the second republic is prioritising NRZ’s revival to give wings to President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030.
PT Len — Indonesia’s railway company- obviously alerted to the economic revival going on in Zimbabwe, took advantage of Vice President Chiwenga’s presence here to pitch their proposal for NRZ.
After the discussions VP Chiwenga assured the company that, “the relevant authorities are considering your (PT Len) submissions.
The railway rehabilitation project is important for the revival of our economy.
“We want a strong railway system that is efficient to facilitate movement of our exports and imports to and from the coasts as we are a landlocked country,” said VP Chiwenga.
However, the Indonesians are not the first company to make a move for a partnership with NRZ but the previous suitors failed to convince Government.
The forays by Zimbabwe to engage other countries is premised by the engagement and re-engagement drive which seeks to place the country as a friend to all and an enemy to none.
President Mnangagwa’s foreign policy also has economic diplomacy at the core as a way of improving people’s livelihoods.
Indonesia which Zimbabwe is opening new frontiers for partnership is not just a passive partner but an ally which can assist in Zimbabwe’s efforts to drive economic revival.
According to the World Bank, today, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and 10th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity.
Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and a member as well as current president of the G20 group.
It is this year pencilled to host the world’s richest nations under the G20 banner as it continues to assert its increasing participation in the global economic matrix.
The manufacturing sector is Indonesia’s largest economic contributor followed by agriculture and their export basket is dominated by crude petroleum and natural gas, rubber, coffee, cocoa and palm oil.
Online Reporter