Charmed by the Second Republic’s economic diplomacy-focused
engagement and re-engagement drive, the UK envoy has expressed his country’s
commitment to improving the two countries’ bilateral relations.
Despite the continued imposition of illegal Western
sanctions over the Land Reform Programme at the turn of the millennium,
President Mnangagwa has, since coming into power in 2017, declared that
“Zimbabwe is open for business”, and reiterated his administration’s commitment
to mending and expanding cordial relations with the global community of
nations.
This has seen the UK becoming one of the biggest foreign
exhibitors at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), alongside
the United States and the European Union who are also exhibiting various goods
and services.
“We are serious about wanting to have and deepen our
relationship with Zimbabwe, and it’s not a secret that we have had a difficult
relationship over history, but the past is the past and we are looking forward
to having a strong and mature relationship with Zimbabwe,” said Amb Vowles in
an interview yesterday at the UK pavilion.
“Yes, there are things that we thought we would not agree
on and that’s okay, and the maturity of our relationship should allow us to
talk about what we agree on and talk on what we don’t agree on and at the end
of the day work together to resolve our issues.”
Asked to clarify whether Zimbabwe was still under the UK
sanctions he said: “It’s a really interesting question . . . five Zimbabweans
and one entity have sanctions against them, that means those five people and
one entity cannot live or have access to the UK, but everybody else, about 16
million people can travel to the UK, and do trade.
“I think it’s best we focus on the future and strive to
build relations that benefit both countries.”
Amb Vowles said the UK was back at the ZITF after a
successful exhibition last year and was looking forward to tapping into more
business opportunities having increased and doubled the size of its stand.
“This is an important opportunity to demonstrate the kind
of trade opportunities and partnerships between the UK and Zimbabwe.
“We also see trade as a path to connecting our people and
our countries for mutual benefit and that’s why we have to demonstrate the
current connections for the future. We desire a strong trade partnership
between the UK and Zimbabwe.
“We hope to make new connections with businesses and create
new relations and new ideas and new innovations so that we can grow
economically.”
Amb Vowles said enhancing bilateral relations between
Zimbabwe and the UK was critical in unlocking win-win business opportunities
for companies from both countries.
He said his country was already supporting Zimbabwe through
financing the building of health facilities among other community projects
meant to improve people’s livelihoods.
“We have got companies, particularly in the renewable
sector where we are bringing solar power, which will attract many investors to
come to Zimbabwe and we are bringing experts from the UK to teach and train the
local people,” said Amb Vowles.
“I was listening to the mining company, which is generating
hydro-power using British generators, and it was confessing that it’s clean and
cheaper.
“But equally, it’s also about helping Zimbabwean companies
to see opportunity in the UK and that could be through exporting products to
the UK like your farmers, say blueberries or citrus, and getting them to the UK
market.”
To facilitate improved trade, Amb Vowles said the UK has
removed trade barriers. He said there are no duties or quarter restrictions and
called upon UK companies to set up shop in Zimbabwe and for Zimbabwean
companies to also grab business opportunities in the UK.
“What will make local people benefit from the UK the same
way UK people are benefiting from Zimbabwe is through exporting products and
getting recognition no matter how small the company is,” said Amb Vowles.
He said since taking over as ambassador of the UK in
Zimbabwe some eight months, the two countries have registered immense trade
gains.
“Our trade is growing massively because our exports and imports flow have grown to 76 percent over the last 12 months and that’s a huge increase and I want us and the embassy to be supportive of similar growth next year,” said Amb Vowles.
“But it’s true that this is a fraction of what it was,
probably about a half in real terms compared to what it was in the 1990s, we
lost a lot of ground I guess in the 2000s, and what we want to do is to
maximize our presence here and rebuilt our relationships to get it where we
were, and beyond,” he said.
“There is a lot more to be done and I think that there is
so much trade potential. We did historically, and it’s a big indication of
potential in the future.
“We have a lot in common in Zimbabwe, we have got a lot of
Zimbabweans in the UK making contributions and when the Diaspora come home they
must see opportunities here.”
Amb Vowles further commended Zimbabwe’s involvement as one
of the pioneers of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), which he
said was crucial for driving intra-regional trade and reaping dividends from a
wider continental market. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment