A senior Zimbabwean official said on Wednesday that the southern
African country, which is reforming its economy to reduce foreign
control, was eager to strengthen ties with China to benefit from
the Asian giant's better trade and investment terms.
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The Zimbabwean government was shifting focus in its relationship
with China from politics to economic cooperation, having cemented
the former firmly since independence from Britain in 1980, Industry
and International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu told Xinhua in an
exclusive interview.
"We have all-weather relations with China, both at the economic
and political level, but it has become more imperative now for us
to grow our economic ties for mutual benefit. This is particularly
so given that we are reforming our economy, and China is doing the
same," he said.
He said the two countries had in recent years signed a series of
protocols to enhance economic cooperation, in areas of
infrastructure development, tourism, trade and investment.
This had paved the way for the Chinese government and private
companies to explore more economic opportunities in this Southern
African country in various sectors, Mpofu said.
"We have opened up the whole economic spectrum between the two
countries, and each is going into areas where it has strength. In
the case of China, this is almost in every sector of the economy
and this is mutually beneficial for the two countries," he
said.
He highlighted huge Chinese investment in tobacco production and
processing, and the agriculture industry as a whole where last week
the central bank announced a US$200 million capital injection from
China in farming, manufacturing and mining.
Tobacco is among Zimbabwe's top exports, and China has become
the largest importer of the commodity from the country. But Mpofu
said China had now moved beyond just importing Zimbabwean tobacco,
and had gone into the crop's production and processing.
He said a huge Chinese investment, running into millions of US
dollars, was on the cards in tobacco processing, but could not give
further details as sensitive discussions on the project were still
pending. In tobacco production, Mpofu said Chinese investors had
moved into out-grower schemes with local farmers, providing
critical financing to boost the crop's output, which has been
falling in recent years.
"We have a project proposal that has been brought up by Chinese
investors to process tobacco into cigarettes and export this as a
finished product. This (value-addition) is what the government
encourages very much and we are very supportive of such ventures,"
he said.
He also spoke of other Chinese investment projects on the cards
in steel-making, tractor assembly and mining, saying these would
bring in large amounts of foreign currency into the country.
A recent visit to China by Vice President Joyce Mujuru secured
US$1.3 billion potential investment in power generation and
mining.
Mpofu said in view of rising Chinese investment interest in
Zimbabwe, the local government was working on measures to ease
customs and immigration formalities to facilitate the flow of
capital from the Asian country.
"We are working on measures to facilitate investment flows into
Zimbabwe, especially from China and other developing countries. We
are essentially doing away with a lot of the red tape that was in
place to give investors convenience and confidence in us," he
said.
In infrastructure development, he said Chinese companies were
active in the construction of roads, hospitals and other projects,
and the firms were generally price-competitive even compared to
local ones in some instances.
Mpofu, who has recently been to China, highlighted existing
Chinese investments, particularly the huge cement factory in Gweru
which has gone a long way in meeting national demand for the
commodity. The project is a joint venture between Chinese investors
and a local company, and has ensured Zimbabwe no longer imports
cement.
He said China offered better trade and investment terms,
compared to other foreign nations, and this was the main attraction
for Zimbabwe, in addition to Beijing's friendliness to Harare.
In most cases, Chinese investment was in the form of joint
ventures, something Mpofu said the government preferred because it
ensured mutual benefits. Investors from the developed countries
often insisted on outright ownership.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2006)
