Online Reporter
Cletus Mushanawani in BEIRA, Mozambique
ZIMBABWE’S Consul General to Beira, Mr Malvern Bere, has hailed ZimTrade’s Trade Mission to Beira for unlocking business opportunities for local companies.
In an interview at his office at the country’s Beira Consulate today ahead of the second ZimTrade’s Trade Mission to Beira which will roars into life tomorrow, Mr Bere said last year’s mission managed to unlock business opportunities for Zimbabwean companies.
“As you are aware that Mozambique is Zimbabwe’s fourth biggest trading partner, a lot is happening between the two countries. We have good political relations, but we are saying in Shona, ukama igasva unozadziswa nekudya. Since there are very good relations at the highest political level, we want this to translate into economic and tangible benefits for our people; hence the trade mission by ZimTrade.
“During their mission in Beira last year, deals worth US$2 million were sealed. We hope this year’s mission will translate into bigger deals. We want to see more tangible results coming. Now that many more companies are coming on board, we hope to see more business as we are anticipating big companies participating” said Mr Bere.
He said his office is always open to assist Zimbabwean companies intending to invest in Mozambique.
“We have a number of local companies operating here in Mozambique, and we are encouraging more to come on board. We are also encouraging Mozambican companies to invest in Zimbabwe so that we have a win-win situation. We hope this mission will facilitate that. In terms of trade, there are so many advantages of using the Beira Corridor route. These include a very good highway, railway and security.”
The ZimTrade delegation is being led by operations director, Mr Simiso Nkala, who said they are looking forward to a highly successful mission.
“We want to carry on from the momentum gathered last year. We have brought big companies, and we hope everyone will have good business during our mission in Beira,” he said.
