By Abigirl Tembo
THE European Union says it is ready to aid Zimbabwe in its reengagement agenda and partner the country in various sectors which include health and agriculture.
European Union Ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Jobst Von Kirchmann this Monday met with Vice President General Rtd Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care where they discussed several issues which include Zimbabwe’s reengagement drive and possible partnerships in the agriculture and health sectors.
“We discussed the whole spectrum of the relationship between the EU and Zimbabwe, more specifically the health sector. Regarding the relationship, we both agreed that we have a very lucky moment because the constructive reengagement strategy initiated by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa has created a conducive working environment.
“Today, we started by looking at our economic relationship. The EU has an economic agreement with Zimbabwe. We are the fourth biggest trading partner, there is always €700 million per year and we hope that we can increase this further. We also support the national development strategy in many aspects and there is more to come in the future, in particular areas like agriculture, climate, and also gender equality empowerment. We support very much the efforts of the Zimbabwean Government to improve the health situation. We have just signed with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to inject €41 million into the health fund.
“We were looking into possibilities when that could be launched because we are by far the biggest donor in that health fund. The undertaking builds on the health fund that is already there and it will also support the country’s efforts for the future to improve the health situation. We also intend to look at the Zimbabwe-EU relationship in a holistic way. There are so many points where we could work together and so many ties which has been created,” he said.
The outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Guo Shaochun also paid a courtesy call on Vice President General Rtd Dr Constantino Chiwenga where he promised the continuation of projects between Zimbabwe and China.
“We have accomplished a lot in the past few years and would like to promise you that we will continue with the projects which include the upgrading of the airport, the Hwange power station as well as the construction of the NetOne broadband. We are also going to see new projects and we are very optimistic of further cooperation between China and Zimbabwe,” he noted.
With the completion of the new parliament building, among other projects conducted in partnership with the Chinese Government, Ambassador Guo leaves Harare a happy man.
