NEWLY-ACCREDITED ambassadors to Zimbabwe from Iran, Ghana and Zambia yesterday presented their letters of credence to President Mnangagwa at State House, with all three committing their tenures to improving relations with Zimbabwe.
Iran will be represented by Ambassador Amir Hossein Hosseini, Ghana by Ambassador Bonaventure Adjavor and Zambia by Brigadier-General Wilson Tembo.
Speaking to the media after his closed-door meeting with the President, Ambassador Hosseini said Zimbabwe and Iran had deep-rooted relations based on mutual understanding and common interests at bilateral and international levels.
As such, the Iranian Ambassador said he would focus on scaling up economic co-operation, with the reopening of a tractor manufacturing plant in Harare in the final stages.
“At bilateral levels, the two countries, considering their capacities and capabilities, naturally, in my view, are complementary economies. So during my tenure and stay here, we will focus on the business, promotion of trade and economic relations between the two countries.
“I have good news for you . . . we are in the final process, and also we discussed the tractor manufacturing factory with His Excellency the President, to reopen our tractor manufacturing factory in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Ambassador Hosseini said the two countries were also working towards the establishment of a pharmaceutical production plant in Zimbabwe. Co-operation in various other areas would also be increased.
“We are also invigorating our efforts to have medicine factories here in Zimbabwe, also in the near future. It is a short-term programme. Also, we have planned to have several delegations on different aspects of our relations, that is, cultural, defence, trade and other aspects of our relations.
“So I have good news for the people and also the Government of Zimbabwe that Iran is urgently planning to promote its own relations with Zimbabwe and we are hopeful to have very positive and constructive processes in the future,” said the Iranian Ambassador.
On the multilateral stage, he said both countries are victims of Western-imposed illegal economic sanctions, hence they would remain united in calling for their unequivocal removal.
“So we will continue, the two countries, to be on a united front against these illegal actions against freedom-loving countries and we will try our best at the international level to oppose the Western countries’ sanctions against independent states,” said Ambassador Hosseini.
Zambian Ambassador Brig-Gen Tembo said President Mnangagwa always saw that Zimbabwe and Zambia were conjoined twins, hence the need for increased and sustained cooperation.
“We had discussions on the many areas of co-operation between our two countries, mainly in the areas of energy, transport, agriculture and tourism,” he said.
The Ambassador said he had also discussed the agreements that exist between the two countries.
“We also spoke about the number of memoranda of understanding that have been signed between the two countries.
“There are still a few others that are a work in progress, which the two countries are working on,” he said.
Ambassador Tembo said he had told President Mnangagwa that Zambia was firmly behind Zimbabwe’s candidature for non-permanent representation in the United Nations Security Council, as well as in calling for the unequivocal removal of sanctions.
“And, of course, we spoke about Zambia’s steadfast support for Zimbabwe in its quest for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council and Zambia’s support, again, ensuring that the sanctions that have been imposed on Zimbabwe are lifted unconditionally. And we are sure that Zambia stands with Zimbabwe every step of the way,” he said.
On the trade front, the Zambian diplomat said figures were satisfactory, although more needed to be done in that aspect.
“Well, figures on trade, I think we are doing okay, but still more remains to be done. I think we look forward to having more investments moving either way between the two countries,” he said.
Quizzed on the planned establishment of a railway line between Lions Den and Lusaka, proposed decades ago as a more direct link, as well as the road to Kanyemba, Ambassador Tembo said they were works in progress.
“Yes, I think those are issues that are still a work in progress. Our Minister of Transport is working vigorously to ensure that those come to fruition,” he said.
Ghana’s Ambassador Adjavor said during his tenure, he would mainly focus on increased economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and Ghana.
Trade between the two countries was low, but there is scope for improvement under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“The economic front is very critical for us. There is too little trade between the two countries. We need to elevate that to enhance trade, accelerate trade between the two countries. We have a lot of products we need to trade in, taking advantage of the AfCFTA.
“Exports from Zimbabwe to Ghana go duty-free . . . likewise, Ghana to Zimbabwe duty-free. All we need to work on is the transport infrastructure to bring goods to this country,” he said.-herald
