Ambassadors present credentials
Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Three new ambassadors from India, Japan and Greece presented their credentials to President Mnangagwa at State House yesterday and pledged to boost ties between their countries and Zimbabwe.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr Sibusiso Moyo and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Ambassador James Manzou, attended the event.
First to present credentials was India’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Vijay Khanduja, who commended the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.
“It’s my pleasure to be accredited to a friendly and very important country, Zimbabwe. I look forward to working with the Government of Zimbabwe to take the relationship to new heights. We have good cooperation be it in political, trade, economic, health and development sectors and it would be my endeavour to make it broad-based,” he said.
Greek Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Loukas Karatsolis, echoed similar sentiments.
“It’s a privilege to serve in this country where there is a vibrant and dynamic Greek community. Everybody knows the Greeks that are here and everybody knows the Hellenic School, so I would want to work with the Greek community and being a part of Zimbabwe’s life the community can boost trade relations and strengthen also the cultural ties between our two countries,” he said.
On the issue of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries, Ambassador Karatsolis said: “The President mentioned the sanctions regime but said this new era that starts with the stabilisation process, there is no real impediments to trade so we can expand our trade with European countries and my country will do the same.”
Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Tanaka said the two countries shared historical ties.
“We have a long history between the Zimbabwean Government and Japanese government. It’s almost 40 years of relations and I believe we can further strengthen our relations in the coming years,” he said.
He added that he had discussed with President Mnangagwa on the need to follow-up on agreements made between Zimbabwe and Japan during last year’s Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development held in Japan.
President Mnangagwa and then Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, agreed to cooperate in various areas that include technology, energy and infrastructure development, among others.
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