Indian firms strengthening relations
Indian companies operating in Zimbabwe are the real ambassadors of the South Asian economic power house as they have direct positive impact on people in communities they operate, Indian Ambassador-designate to Zimbabwe, Vijay Khanduja has said.
The ambassador-designate made these remarks when he spoke at the agro-processing concern, Pure Oil Industries’ end of year corporate social responsibility (CSR) ceremony in Harare yesterday.
The ceremony saw Pure Oil Industries — who are manufacturers of the Zimgold brand of cooking oil, handing over $1 million to Ms Pauline Rusenza who won the the company’s Zimgold Millionaire promotion.
The event also saw Pure Oil handing over two all expenses paid scholarships to two female university students who will pursue engineering studies in India as well as the handing over of hampers to charity organisations.
It is against this background that Ambassador-designate Khanduja said the firm and other Indian companies operating in Zimbabwe were doing well by fostering and strengthening relations between the two countries.
“We are called diplomats, we are ambassadors . . . but it’s actually the Indian companies which are doing a wonderful job (who are the real ambassadors,” said Ambassador-designate Khanduja.
Speaking at the ceremony, Pure Oil Industries executive chairman Mr Pradyumn Ganediwal, said although 2020 had been a challenging year to the business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, his company remained upbeat on the prospects of the business.
He said the company’s optimism stems from recent reports which indicate that some pharmaceutical companies have finally developed vaccines that can combat the spread of the deadly virus that causes Covid-19.
“It is not a secret that 2020 has not been as easy year with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic which has seen us lose hundreds of thousands of lives across the globe,” said Mr Ganediwal.
“The pandemic has also seen disruptions to our way of life and to business in general.
“Yet in spite of all this, we have remained positive that we will turn the corner.
“Our vision at Pure Oil is to be a low- cost producer and continuous supplier of quality products, provide innovative products to our customers, grow the brand to lead the market, backward and forward integrate to support complimentary value chains,” he said.
Pure Oil Industries is one of the fastest growing manufactures in the country with a workforce of over 500.
To date, it produces more than 7 million litres of cooking oil a month as well as more than 200 tonnes of margarine, more than a thousand tonnes of soap a month and other products.-heral.cl.zw
