Story by Oleen Ndori, International Desk Editor
As the Second Republic’s engagement and re-engagement agenda continues to bear positive results, Switzerland’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Excellency Stephane Rey paid a courtesy call on Acting President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga in Harare this Wednesday.
This comes as Zimbabwe and Switzerland are looking at ways of deepening bilateral relations in different sectors of the economy, with the health sector a priority.
High on the agenda during the courtesy call was Zim-Swiss ties with a special invitation being extended for Zimbabwe to attend the Montreux 5th ministerial patient safety summit in February next year.
“We discussed bilateral issues with Honourable Chiwenga. We went through all ties that include economic affairs and Swiss investments, but also I had a specific invitation to extend to Hon Chiwenga. Switzerland is hosting the 5th Ministerial Patient Safety summit in February next year and it was the Swiss incoming President’s wish to have Zimbabwe at the table. Hon Chiwenga has immediately accepted the invitation and we are looking forward to hosting him in Switzerland,” he said.
With Switzerland being one of the major European investors in Zimbabwe, Ambassador Rey said the World Economic Forum set for Davos in January next year will provide fertile ground for Zimbabwe’s investment drive.
“Davos is fantastic opportunity for Zimbabwe’s delegation to interact with more investors and direct trade with companies and hopefully during my tenure we can maybe double our trading figures.”
Some of the Swiss companies operating in Zimbabwe include Nestle, Pure Africa and Shindler, among others.
