Belarus - Zimbabwe. Moving forward

17 января 2019

Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived in Minsk the day before. Belarus was a mandatory point in the African leader’s big tour alongside Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Today, Mr. Mnangagwa speaks about the openness of his country to foreign investment and business. Minsk hopes that this approach will have a positive impact on the implementation of the Belarusian-Zimbabwean projects. Earlier, Alexander Lukashenko instructed to determine reliable footholds in a promising African region. Zimbabwe is one of them.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe:

"Since my last visit to the Republic of Belarus, which took place about four years ago, we have constantly maintained close ties. And I am very happy that we have such open and direct contacts. There are very close and good relations between our countries. My administration and the people of Zimbabwe consider the Republic of Belarus a fraternal country."

Winston Chitando, Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe:

"Zimbabwe has a great potential for cooperation with Belarus. To begin with, we already have Belarusian equipment, which works at our mines. On Sunday, our businessmen, representatives of various companies, flew to Belarus. During the week they visit your enterprises, explore the potential for cooperation. I met with them this morning, and they are very impressed with what they saw. And they are very interested in contracts."

Last year, Belarusian manufacturers signed multimillion contracts for the supply of tractors, dump trucks, combines, forestry equipment and equipment for the diamond industry. The market encourages projects in the field of construction, transport infrastructure, energy sector. Energy shortages are a problem not only for Zimbabwe, but also for many African countries.

One of the promising areas of cooperation is the mining industry. The President of Zimbabwe said that there are resources, but they are in the ground. Therefore, we need capital, of course, and skills. And Belarus is a storehouse of technology and specialists ready to deal with a wide range of minerals.

Zimbabwe is ready to use the Belarusian experience in land reclamation and irrigation of drylands. A significant contribution to the strengthening of bilateral relations can be made by the construction of dairy complexes.

The package of signed documents following the talks confirms the intention of the parties to cooperate in agriculture and in the field of innovations. Several documents in the field of education were approved as well.

Given the high level of Belarusian educational institutions, common projects in the field of education will be a real gift for the African state. By the way, the leaders also exchanged presents as a sign of respect and trust. The negotiations were substantive and fruitful. There are no closed topics and the political dialogue is established.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe:

"We want to deepen economic cooperation with Belarus. Zimbabwe is faced with the task of developing a socio-economic program to improve the life of citizens and show that the government is working on solving their problems. However, this is not an easy task, the hand of our friends on the path to a dream is important for us. Our country now needs peace and unity."