Mphoko to meet Putin

PRESIDENT Mugabe has dispatched Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko to Russia to engage President Vladimir Putin on further economic co-operation between Harare and Moscow.

VP Mphoko will meet the Russian leader on the sidelines of the 21st St Petersburg International Economic Forum which is running from 1 to 3 June. Possible areas of discussion are mining, commerce, agriculture, health and others which Presidents Mugabe and Putin explored in Moscow in 2015. Apart from the high-level engagement, the VP is expected to make a global pitch for Zimbabwe's investment opportunities in his keynote speech at the Forum.

He is travelling with Ministers Patrick Chinamasa (Finance and Economic Development), Dr Mike Bimha (Industry and Commerce) and Walter Chidhakwa (Mines and Mining Development). Minister of State (Office of the Vice-President) Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga told our Harare Bureau: "The 2017 St Petersburg International Economic Forum will give Zimbabwe the chance to hold mutually-beneficial dialogue with the international community on key issues on the global agenda concerning the economy and finances. The conference will give us an opportunity to establish relations with participating companies/organisations. We are looking at opportunities in mining, agriculture, health, industry and commerce, with the aforementioned ministers expected to extend co-operation with our Russian counterparts."

She continued: "Minister Chinamasa will be there given that every deal has to do with finance. We will be strengthening the economic and investment ties between Zimbabwe and Russia, and we want to show our level of commitment and hope to come back with tangible deals. VP Mphoko will attend a plenary session with President Putin, and the Vice-President will talk about issues to do with investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and strengthening bilateral ties between our two countries.

The outcome will certainly strengthen relations between our two governments."

Minister Bimha added: "We are going to look for funding for capitalisation, retooling and value-addition machinery. We need to create linkages between big corporations in Russia and our small and medium enterprises. We also want to link our private sector with Russia's own private sector. We are going to look at possibilities of high value-addition in tobacco; we would like to change our raw tobacco into a high chemical (element) which can be used in many areas like pharmaceuticals.

"In addition, we are going to engage potential investors on a number of fertiliser projects under the Industrial Development Corporation which falls under my ministry. We will engage cotton-spinning processors, multi-fruit processors and glass processors."

In 2014, Zimbabwe and Russia signed a US$3 billion mining deal which will create 8 000-plus jobs and increase the African nation's platinum output. The Darwendale project is scheduled to be complete in 2024, and involves mining 10 million tonnes of platinum ore to produce

800 000 ounces per year. In 2015, President Mugabe visited Russia for the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany at President Putin's invitation in his capacity as then African Union Chair.