SPEAKER of Parliament Jacob Mudenda concluded a successful bilateral week-long visit to Japan within the auspices of Parliamentary diplomacy.
Mudenda's visit included a fecund meeting with Fukushiro Nukaga, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Diet (Parliament of Japan) last Friday.
In a statement, Mudenda highlighted that the high-level visit underpinned Zimbabwe's commitment to accentuating its relations with Japan.
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In this spirit of multilateralism during the meetings, Mudenda lobbied for Japan's support for Zimbabwe's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council for the period 2027 to 2028.
Japan's Speaker (Nukaga) expressed unambiguous support for Zimbabwe's bid for the non-permanent seat in line with the Japanese government's position on the bid. He advised Mudenda that the Japanese Foreign ministry had pledged the country's unequivocal support of Zimbabwe in the auspicious endeavour, which concomitantly emboldened him to accordingly pronounce legislative support as per Mudenda's request.
"Japan stands solidly behind Zimbabwe's bid for the non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council," Nukaga said.
Fundamentally, this position bodes well with the national aspiration and foreign policy as espoused by the President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, that "Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none" and that the country is willing to contribute to global peace initiatives on the basis of multilaterarism and International law.
During the two parliamentary representatives' engagement, Nukaga referred to the Zimbabwe delegation's fruitful interface with his longtime friend, Dr Shinichi Kitaoka, former President of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) and Special Advisor to the President of JICA.
Nukaga also reflected on his own fulfilling journey as President of JICA before his appointment to the position of President of the House of Representatives.
During his tenure at JICA, the Speaker of the House of Representatives indicated that he was instrumental in securing financial assistance for JICA initiatives.
Accordingly, he assured Mudenda that he was indeed well versed in JICA's objectives with particular emphasis to bolstering socio-economic cooperation with other countries, Zimbabwe included.
The Zimbabwean Speaker extended gratitude to JICA for its unwavering support to Zimbabwe in various sectors, including infrastructure development, regional integration espoused within support for One Stop Border posts at Chirundu and the envisaged Nacala Corridor between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, healthcare sector and in Zimbabwe's smart agriculture.
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Mudenda underscored that there was still opportunity for further collaborations particularly in the energy sector where Zimbabwe has an energy deficit which is hindering accelerated industrialisation.
Mudenda extended an invitation to his counterpart, Nukaga, to visit Zimbabwe on a bilateral visit during a mutually convenient period, which he graciously accepted.
Mudenda also extended an invitation to Japanese investors to explore investment opportunities, particularly in the mining sector, expounding that their investments will be protected in line with Zimbabwe's constitutional provisions for property rights.
