eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Improved trade relations between Zimbabwe and Rwanda are poised for major growth and players involved should quicken the implementation of several agreements that have been signed between the two countries, according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Frederick Shava
He was speaking during the Zimbabwe-Rwanda Trade Investment conference in Harare yesterday.
“We are signing more memorandums of understanding (MOU’s) in the areas of Economic Trade and Investment Cooperation.
“This is a clear testimony to our commitment to making sure that the relations between the two countries produce results as quickly as possible and I am urging all parties involved to expedite the implementation of these and other previously signed agreements,” he said.
The Trade investment conference is a reciprocal conference following the inaugural Zimbabwe-Rwanda investment trade conference held in Rwanda last year September.
“Here in Zimbabwe I welcome more than 60 member delegations coming from Rwanda with a desire to explore trade and investment opportunities in Zimbabwe in various areas,” he said.
Shava said during the Kigali conference, four MOUs were signed between the governments of Zimbabwe and Rwanda in the areas of agriculture and livestock, ICT and E-Government, Tourism and Business, Environment and Climate Change and the MOU signed between the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and Rwanda Private Sector Federation.
Rwanda Minister of Trade and Industry, Beata Habyarimana, said Zimbabwe’s trade investment body ZIMTRADE and the Rwanda Board initiated the important forum to promote bi-lateral trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
“The conference is coming at an opportune time when the bi-lateral relationship we are forging between the countries is growing.
“Our cooperation has grown exponentially in the last five years with several agreements signed in various common areas of interest such as education, energy, industry, agriculture, mineral resources, ICT, tourism as well as construction,” she said.
ZIMTRADE chief executive, Allan Majuru, said the conference being held under the theme “explore, invest and export” shows how the trade agency has been working closely between Rwanda and Zimbabwe on investment, tourism and trade.
“From our end, we thought it is prudent to work with Rwanda so that our exports grow. “Exports between the two countries are currently insignificant, therefore we are finding a way to grow between the two nations,” he said.
According to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the target is to grow exports by 10 percent every year up to 2023.
