eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – Belarus and Zimbabwe on Monday agreed to establish joint venture companies cutting across the different economic sectors as the two countries deepen their cooperation.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Belarus in January and signed several economic cooperation agreements with the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.
And in a follow up to the agreements, Belarus head of Presidential Affairs, General Colonel Victor Sheiman arrived in Zimbabwe on Sunday on a three-day mission.
“General Sheiman has come over for us to review the progress so far achieved and we have gone over all the items which we agreed when I visited Belarus in January. Its work in progress in almost on every area,” President Mnangagwa said after closed door talks that lasted over three hours.
Sheiman said new ventures that had been agreed on would cover areas including transport and logistics, energy, agriculture and construction.
“The first stage is a joint venture for transportation between a Belarusian and Zimbabwean company,” Sheiman said.
“This joint venture will be formed by a big Belarusian company and His Excellency (Mnangagwa) will determine the Zimbabwean partner for this joint venture.”
He said at least 2 100 buses and 1 000 trucks will be made available for the transport and logistics company.
The trucks would transport goods and services from ports in Mozambique and the recently commissioned Zimbabwean dry port in Namibia.
“The second phase will be the creation of a logistics centre to facilitate the work of this company,” Sheiman said.
In the energy sector, Sheiman said an energy manufacturing firm will be established that will produce parts for power plants as well as solar panels.
A solar power plant that will generate 100 MW will also be set up, he said.
In the agriculture sector, Belarus has committed to providing irrigation equipment and the two governments agreed to expand the cooperation to set up a partnership in the production of maize, wheat, soya beans and milk with a manufacturing company to add value to the produce is also on the cards.
“It will be a large scale production,” Sheiman said. – New Ziana
