Economic and trade relations between Zimbabwe and Uruguay
are poised for growth after leaders of the two countries agreed to collaborate
and facilitate trade and investments in the areas of agriculture and the energy
sector.
This emerged when President Robert Mugabe who is in
Montevideo attending the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Conference on NCDs
held a meeting with the President of Uruguay Dr Tabare Vazquez at his offices
in the capital city.
President Mugabe was accompanied by Foreign Affairs
Minister Dr Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe’s
ambassador to Brazil and the South American Region Ambassador Thomas Bvuma,
Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba and several senior government
officials.
Sources close to the meeting revealed that the two leaders
discussed a wide range of issues that are expected to cement economic and trade
relations between the two countries.
After the closed door meeting the two heads of state took
some time to chat and got to know each other better.
Later in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Walter
Mzembi, who was accompanied by Ambassador Bvuma and Ambassador Chipo Zindoga
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then made a follow up visit to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs in Uruguay Mr Rodolfo Nin Novoa at his
offices.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Dr Mzembi says a
delegation comprising agriculture experts and energy sector representatives
from the South American country are expected to visit Zimbabwe soon.
“I think we have something going with the Uruguayans. They
are very warm people and very genuine. What they have informed me is that their
own president instructed a delegation be dispatched to Harare to follow up on
the Presidential discussion.We have refined it a little bit to a position where
we are saying the Minister of Agriculture of Zimbabwe and Energy Minister must
first come up here to familiarise with what the two presidents discussed.
“The first aspect being the area around cattle ranching and
beef production where Uruguay is excelling to the extent where despite the fact
that it is one third the size of Zimbabwe, they actually boast of 20 million
herd of cattle and they are exporting to 140 countries and clearly that’s a
very useful benchmark study for our Minister of Agriculture. They are growing
food enough to feed 40 million people. There will also be emphasis on renewable
energy production. We think it will be a
useful benchmark study,” said Dr Mzembi.
The economy of Uruguay is characterised by an
export-oriented agricultural sector and Minister Mzembi says Zimbabwe will take
every effort to improve bilateral trade-economic relations with the South
American country.
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