Published by the government of Zimbabwe
4 November 2009
Harare — Government has called for the expeditious implementation of measures that promote trade between Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Officially opening the eighth session of the Zimbabwe-Malawi Joint Commission in Harare yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, said the two countries should work to clear obstacles affecting trade between them.
"In this regard, we need to remove all impediments to trade, such as non-tariff barriers, bottlenecks at border posts and unnecessary bureaucratic procedures that are hindering trade relations between the two countries," he said.
"We should also bring the private sector including SMEs on board to ensure that our engagements as governments are relevant and meaningful to our entrepreneurs."
Minister Mumbengegwi underscored the need to create an enabling business environment saying that would benefit both countries' economies.
He said Zimbabwe and Malawi had strong business ties hence the need to undertake measures that ensured less taxation of the entrepreneurs.
"We, therefore, welcome the proposal to sign the Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation as a measure to stimulate further investment between our countries."
He commended the government of Malawi and the Sadc region at large for rallying behind Zimbabwe in the face of Western illegal sanctions. Although the Zimbabwe-Malawi Joint Commission last met in 2002, Minister Mumbengegwi expressed gratitude on the progress it had made since.
"Although it has been a long time since the last session of the Joint Commission, we have witnessed the signing and implementation of the Revised Bilateral Trade Agreement, the MoU on Agriculture and the MoU on the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises," he said.
Minister Mumbengegwi took a swipe at Western governments for maintaining illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in spite of their condemnation by Sadc, Comesa, the Non-Aligned Movement and the African Union.
Malawi Foreign Affairs Minister Professor Etah Banda said her country was committed to upholding the mutual relationship between the two countries. She said Malawi would do everything on its part to strengthen trading relations between Zimbabwe and Malawi.
"We will do our best to ensure that we achieve our goal of enhancing trading relations between our two countries," she said.
Prof Banda said in the face of modern global challenges, it was imperative that the two countries explored new areas of co-operation to deal with emerging global challenges such as climate change.
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