Six envoys present credentials
SIX newly appointed ambassadors to Zimbabwe yesterday presented their credentials to President Mugabe at State House in Harare and pledged to work towards furthering economic and bilateral relations.
First to present his credentials was Germany’s Ambassador Thorsten Hutter, who said it was important for the two countries to cooperate.
“I will not disclose the details of the meeting, but we agreed that it was important that Germany and Zimbabwe cooperate well.
“His Excellency (President Mugabe) said I should get to know the country, know the people and that I should use my means and my abilities to see how we can promote our cooperation,” he said.
He said Germany had been actively engaged in supporting Zimbabwe during times of drought and has several projects in such fields as education, agriculture and water.
Ambassador Hutter said he looked forward to visiting some of the projects and meet as many people as possible.
Second to present her credentials was Swedish Ambassador Sofia Calltorp, who said she was looking at strengthening the historic friendship between the two nations.
“I had fruitful discussions with the President. We talked about our long and historic friendship. I look forward to working here and serve my country in your beautiful country,” she said.
“We have a visit by our state secretary in a few weeks and we will discuss those issues (areas of cooperation) further with the Government but we look forward to continue cooperation and engagement in Zimbabwe.”
Next was Iran’s representative to Zimbabwe Ambassador Ahmad Erfanian, who said he wanted to extend the good political relations between the two countries to include trade.
“First of all, I am very grateful to be in your beautiful country. As you may know, we have excellent relations with Zimbabwe. Iran and Zimbabwe are bound by a strong relationship. Unfortunately, it’s quite excellent in political relations but the volume of trade relations is not what is expected,” he said.
Portugal Ambassador Ricardo Eduardo Vaz Pereira Pracana said he was keen to bring in Portuguese investors into the country.
“I am honoured to be ambassador in this country and I will do my best to strengthen the ties between Portugal and Zimbabwe. I think there are a lot of opportunities mainly on entrepreneurial basis. I will try to bring in Portuguese investors in this country. It will be one of my priorities,” he said.
He said Zimbabwe had various opportunities in infrastructure development among other fields.
French Ambassador Richard Boidin hailed President Mugabe for sharing kind words with his country on its Operation Serval.
Operation Serval is a French military operation in Mali helping to oust Islamic militants in the north of Mali.
“It was a very good meeting. I want to thank His Excellency (President Mugabe) for the kind words he had for France when it was in Bamako, Mali, and we discussed this and I have to thank him for his kind words,” he said.
“We spoke about possible areas of cooperation. We want to improve our cooperation especially French investments in Zimbabwe.”
Botswana Ambassador and former Commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Louis Matshwenyego Fisher, who was last to present his credentials, said he would work to strengthen ties between the two countries.
“It was really an honour for me to be received by His Excellency President Mugabe. What the President pointed out was that as neighbours, we have a relationship that needs to be looked after. Our jobs as ambassadors is to ensure that we strengthen these relations and work hard. If there are problems on the ground, it is our duty as ambassadors and other stakeholders to put our hands together and work hard for the relations,” he said.
The ceremony was attended by Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Sydney Sekeramayi, permanent secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha and other senior Government officials.