herald
Mukudzey Chingwere Herald reporter
Indonesia has stepped up its investment interest in Zimbabwe after the Southeast Asian country yesterday sent its Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, to lay the groundwork for the investment.
Minister Panjaitan met President Mnangagwa for the first time yesterday morning when the government delegation was led by Interim President Dr. Constantine Chiwenga.
The meeting focused on Indonesia's interest in doing business in Zimbabwe, which took place in the context of President Mnangagwa's investment promotion initiative, which opened up Zimbabwe for business.
The Asian economic giant first showed interest in local investment when outgoing President Chiwenga attended a sectoral ministerial meeting on sanitation and water for all in Jakarta, Indonesia last year.
Indonesia is an emerging economic power and is now classified as a developing country. It is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 17th largest in the world.
On the sidelines of the meeting in Jakarta, Dr. Chiwenga worked with Indonesian authorities, including the country's vice president, Maruf Amin, who he believed Zimbabwe was a safe haven for international capital with great potential. .
"We have a delegation from Indonesia led by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan and they are also accompanied by the Indonesian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Deva Sastravan," Acting Acting Minister said.
“They came to strengthen cooperation between our countries in areas such as agriculture, health, tourism, mining and mutual relations that we have been building for several years.
"That's why the minister has now come to discuss the areas we discussed. I was in Indonesia last May and we discussed and agreed on several areas.
"For example, in healthcare, we hope that our pharmaceutical companies will collaborate and jointly produce medicines in Zimbabwe for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe," outgoing President Chiwenga said.
Minister Panjaitan emphasized that the implementation of the agreed terms is planned to start already next month.
“I met with the President (Mnangagwa) this morning and that was a continuation of the morning meeting to discuss a number of things so that we can agree to form a working group.
“I think the Zimbabwean ambassador and my deputy will schedule a meeting in Jakarta on February 10. We want to move very quickly on this matter," Minister Panjaitan said.
During the visit, Dr. Chiwenga to Indonesia, the two countries agreed on cooperation in health, transport, agriculture and infrastructure development.
Since then, memorandums of understanding in these areas have been prepared and submitted to the Indonesian Embassy in Harare.
Indonesian companies Bio Farma and NatPharm have presented a draft memorandum of understanding, which is expected to be signed next month, and Minister Panjaitan's visit to Zimbabwe is expected to speed up the implementation process.
Private companies are also interacting and carrying out joint activities, and this cooperation is expected to contribute to deepening cooperation and intensifying exchanges between the two countries.
