New Delhi: The 8th India-Africa Conclave
was officially opened here with Vice President Joice Mujuru urging
African nations to engage emerging economic power houses such as India
to unlock the true value of their natural resources.
Speaking on the occasion on Sunday, she said it was critical for Africa to reduce its dependence on investment from the West and start adopting alternative sources of investments such as the East.
"Without denigrating former traditional sources of investment, I urge Africa to move with the times and not to just expect investment to come from traditional sources. We have our God given resources, which the world needs. Let us leverage them to unlock our true worth," she said.
VP Mujuru said India was an important country for Africa as it was one of the fastest growing economies under the BRICs framework.
"Separately, political relations between Africa and India are excellent, based on mutual respect. This lays a firm foundation for the establishment of meaningful economic co-operation. May I therefore take this opportunity to urge you all to identify opportunities to translate our good political relations to tangible economic co-operation," she said.
Zimbabwe would leverage on the existing trade and investment relations with India to broaden win-win situations, with particular emphasis on value addition. In this regard Government had created a conducive, stable economic environment that allowed forward planning, investment and savings through the launch of the Medium Term Plan (MTP) in 2009.
The objectives of the programme are to transform the economy, reduce poverty, create jobs, maintain macroeconomic stability and restore the economy's capacity to produce goods and services competitively.
VP Mujuru said Government had established a One Stop Shop Investment Centre to streamline the investment support and facilitation processes. Government had opened up the energy sector to allow entry of independent power producers and had also adopted the policy of Public-Private-Partnerships to aid accelerated development in all facets of the economy.
"Opportunities abound for investment in infrastructure development through concepts such as Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), Build Own Operate (BOO) as well as Rehabilitate, Operate and Transfer (ROT).
BOT opportunities include the construction and maintenance of the road network, the railway line, refurbishing of airport terminal buildings and civil works on taxing ways as well as runways.
"In the telecommunications sub-sector, more still needs to be done in terms of tele-density and rural coverage. My call to the Indian private and public owned companies is to come to Zimbabwe to pursue opportunities," she said.
Other possible areas of interest to investors included the mining sector where the country had more than 60 different types of minerals. The Vice President also invited investors in several priority areas in the tourism industry ahead of the country co-hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly in 2013.
Speaking on the occasion on Sunday, she said it was critical for Africa to reduce its dependence on investment from the West and start adopting alternative sources of investments such as the East.
"Without denigrating former traditional sources of investment, I urge Africa to move with the times and not to just expect investment to come from traditional sources. We have our God given resources, which the world needs. Let us leverage them to unlock our true worth," she said.
VP Mujuru said India was an important country for Africa as it was one of the fastest growing economies under the BRICs framework.
"Separately, political relations between Africa and India are excellent, based on mutual respect. This lays a firm foundation for the establishment of meaningful economic co-operation. May I therefore take this opportunity to urge you all to identify opportunities to translate our good political relations to tangible economic co-operation," she said.
Zimbabwe would leverage on the existing trade and investment relations with India to broaden win-win situations, with particular emphasis on value addition. In this regard Government had created a conducive, stable economic environment that allowed forward planning, investment and savings through the launch of the Medium Term Plan (MTP) in 2009.
The objectives of the programme are to transform the economy, reduce poverty, create jobs, maintain macroeconomic stability and restore the economy's capacity to produce goods and services competitively.
VP Mujuru said Government had established a One Stop Shop Investment Centre to streamline the investment support and facilitation processes. Government had opened up the energy sector to allow entry of independent power producers and had also adopted the policy of Public-Private-Partnerships to aid accelerated development in all facets of the economy.
"Opportunities abound for investment in infrastructure development through concepts such as Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), Build Own Operate (BOO) as well as Rehabilitate, Operate and Transfer (ROT).
BOT opportunities include the construction and maintenance of the road network, the railway line, refurbishing of airport terminal buildings and civil works on taxing ways as well as runways.
"In the telecommunications sub-sector, more still needs to be done in terms of tele-density and rural coverage. My call to the Indian private and public owned companies is to come to Zimbabwe to pursue opportunities," she said.
Other possible areas of interest to investors included the mining sector where the country had more than 60 different types of minerals. The Vice President also invited investors in several priority areas in the tourism industry ahead of the country co-hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly in 2013.
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