Bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and the Republic of Korea are expected to deepen following the recent visit to the Asian country by the permanent secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador James Manzou.
Ambassador Manzou was on a two-day diplomatic tour of the Republic of Korea focusing on the promotion of trade, investment and development cooperation between the two countries.
He paid a courtesy call on that country's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choi Youngsam, on Thursday.
Ambassador Manzou held diplomatic consultations with Ms Kim Eun-jeong, who is the director-general for African and Middle-East Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.
"The deliberations we had focused on the bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and the Republic of Korea, with special attention given to the promotion of trade and investment and development cooperation between the two countries," said Ambassador Manzou.
The two sides welcomed the cordial relations subsisting between Zimbabwe and the Republic of Korea since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1994 and will be celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations next year.
Ambassador Manzou said there was an exchange of views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including the Korean peninsula and climate change. Of major importance, Ambassador Manzou said, President Mnangagwa was of the stance that Zimbabwe was a friend to all and an enemy to none.
The country was on policy thrust of consolidating and re-affirming existing bilateral relations, engagement of new countries to establish ties, and re-engagement with countries that had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is still calling for the unconditional removal of these unilateral and unwarranted sanctions.
Ambassador Manzou told Korean delegates that economic diplomacy was at the core of Zimbabwe's Government Re-affirmation, Engagement and Re-engagement Policy.
Among the key potential projects the two countries can embark are infrastructure development and modernisation of agriculture.
"I submitted a list of projects for consideration by the Government of Korea, in particular on the modernisation of agriculture and infrastructure development," said Ambassador Manzou.
"I reiterated the importance to enhance trade and cooperation between Zimbabwe and Korea, in preparation for the Korea-Africa Summit scheduled for 2024."
Following his fruitful engagements with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, Ambassador Manzou held a meeting with the President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security and the Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), Mr Lee Choongmyon, and also had a tour of the diplomatic academy.
He met with representatives of the Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korea-Africa Foundation and these two institutions are critical in enhancing trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.
"I underscored the importance of establishing a close working relationship between Zimbabwe's trade body, ZimTrade and KOTRA, in an effort to deepen and broaden trade and economic cooperation between our countries," he said.
The KOTRA Executive Vice President, Mr Kim Teaho expressed interest to exhibit at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) this year.
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At Korea-Africa Foundation, Ambassador Manzou was informed of a pending visit to Zimbabwe by a parliamentarian delegation to attend the Transform Africa Summit to be held in Victoria Falls at the end of April 2023.
He expressed his readiness to facilitate meetings for the Korean delegation with the relevant authorities in Zimbabwe and a number of investment areas were identified, including agriculture, IT, mining, and energy.
Ambassador Manzou also said the Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Japan and the Republic of Korea, Mr Stewart Nyakotyo, will make the necessary follow-ups to ensure Zimbabwe's effective participation at the Korea-Africa Summit in 2024 and further encourage the participation of Japanese and Korean delegations at the forthcoming Transform Africa Summit and the ZITF.
