VP Chiwenga scouts for Indonesian investment
INDONESIA is interested in investing in Zimbabwe and its Government will soon dispatch officials on a feasibility and investment scouting mission following meetings between Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his Indonesia counterpart Ma’ruf Amin, here yesterday.
Vice President Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, is in Indonesia leading a Zimbabwean delegation for this year’s edition of the meeting of sector ministers responsible for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ( Wash).
The Vice President has taken advantage of his visit to further contact and to attract foreign investment as one means of fostering economic development to steer the economy towards an upper middle income economy by 2030.
In an interview after several high level meetings, including one with Vice President Amin, Cde Chiwenga said the Indonesians have shown interest in helping in revamping and modernisation of Zimbabwe’s railway system, manufacturing healthcare consumables and in agriculture, particularly buying cotton and tobacco.
“The first issue which we discussed was the economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and Indonesia on the construction of railway lines,” said Vice President Chiwenga.
Zimbabwe not only needs to upgrade existing lines but also lay new lines for new mining and industrial users.
“They said they are interested to be considered among companies that are coming to look and make offers on developing our railway lines. We also discussed health issues between our two countries. They have developed a lot in the areas of vaccines and insulins. They are interested that Zimbabwe becomes a hub where we can jointly make those vaccines and insulins and then we become a hub for the sale of those products to the African continent.”
Indonesia also expressed interest in Zimbabwean grown cotton and tobacco, and the VP also said they discussed agricultural cooperation with his counterpart. He has briefed Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador Sophia Nyamudeza here.
The main problem afflicting the cotton sector was the lack of secured buyers for lint and the market sought by VP Chiwenga is seen as the ideal solution for the revival of the cotton sector. VP Chiwenga also said they discussed possibilities for Zimbabwe to buy palm oil directly from Indonesia rather than third parties. Zimbabwe uses a lot of this oil, a common ingredient in soaps and some other consumer products.
“I have instructed the Ambassador and the Minister of Agriculture to look into the issue of buying palm oil directly from Indonesia rather than buying it through third parties. We use a lot of crude oil but we buy through third parties and we want to see how that will assist reduce prices to our consumers if we buy directly,” said VP Chiwenga. The Vice President also took time to market destination Zimbabwe
inviting his hosts to visit areas such as Victoria Falls among others for tourism.
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