Fungi Kwaramba in SKOLKOVO, Russia
Zimbabwe and Russia have signed a new cooperation agreement to deepen institutional ties and drive practical collaboration between the two countries.
The Cooperation Agreement on the Autonomous Non-Profit Organisation for the Development of International Cooperation was signed by the organisation’s Board of Trustees chairman, Mr Petr Mikhailovich Fradkov, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Professor Amon Murwira, in the presence of President Mnangagwa on the margins of the Third Russia–Africa Summit.
Several Russian organisations also made presentations at the engagement, including PSB Bank, a financial institution offering alternative international banking similar to Western international payment platforms.
Speaking after the signing, President Mnangagwa said the agreements must quickly translate into tangible projects that benefit both economies and ordinary citizens.
“I challenge all of us to ensure that these agreements move quickly from paper to practical projects and areas of impactful collaboration,” he said.
To drive implementation, the President proposed a joint technical working group comprising PSB Bank and, on the Zimbabwean side, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment Promotion, and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
“It is critically important that, together, you identify priority projects, appropriate financing mechanisms and implementation timelines,” he said.
He singled out PSB Bank’s potential to support trade finance, lines of credit and investment in bankable projects in Zimbabwe’s priority sectors, adding that Harare would consider payment and settlement proposals through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and within the country’s regulatory framework.
The President also assured the Russian side that Zimbabwe has no objection to the proposed cooperation instrument between the two countries’ Human Rights Commissions, and invited the Russian Commission to visit Zimbabwe so the instrument can be finalised and signed directly.
