The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, February 2, 1992 — Five representatives of a Malaysian-based conglomerate, the Sime Darby Group, arrived in Bulawayo yesterday on a fact finding mission designed to increase trade cooperation.

The visit by the Malaysian delegation is a follow up to Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s visit to that country in December to explore the possibility of establishing joint ventures.

The co-leader of the Malaysian delegation, Mr Shafiq Sit Abdullah, said the delegation arrived in the country last Sunday. It visited 45 large and small companies in Harare and was in Bulawayo to follow-up on discussions held in Harare.

“There is so much between our countries that is still unknown to our people. There is a need for our people to get more information about each other,” said Mr Abdullah.

He said his delegation was here to identify Zimbabwe’s key exports in a bid to bridge the gap between the two countries. He added that there was still insufficient trade between the two countries.

Mr Abdullah told journalists at a Press conference yesterday afternoon the two countries hoped to strengthen tourism links. He said his country’s national airline Malaysian Airways, was already planning to introduce flights to Zimbabwe beginning in April.

Other areas likely to be explored were the supply of surgical gloves and condoms to Zimbabwe. He said Malaysia could produce the two products much cheaper than companies in other countries.