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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent

PAKISTAN is impressed by the vision of the Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa, Ambassador of Pakistan to Zimbabwe, Dr Murad Baseer, has said.

Speaking at the Pakistan National Day commemorations in Harare yesterday, Ambassador Baseer said the manifestation of that has been the decision by the Zimbabwean Government to open the first-ever diplomatic mission in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The event was attended by the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Shelia Chikomo, ambassadors from various embassies accredited to Zimbabwe and senior Government officials.

Ambassador Baseer said the opening of the embassy in Pakistan was an unprecedented step forward by Zimbabwe to reach out to its old friend Pakistan.

“Pakistan enjoys very cordial relations with Zimbabwe and we have supported the liberation struggle of the people of Zimbabwe during the late 1970s,” he said. “Pakistan was instrumental in providing mainly training, arms and ammunition and finances to the founding fathers of Zimbabwe exiled in Mozambique. Pakistan was one of the nation states to recognise the independence of Zimbabwe and moved its embassy from Maputo, Mozambique to Harare in November 1980.”

Ambassador Baseer said Zimbabwe was a blessed land with numerous business opportunities.

He said under President Mnangagwa’s mantra, “Zimbabwe is open for business” he believed that both Pakistani and Zimbabwean companies have ample opportunities.

“There are immense opportunities for Pakistani companies in textiles, processed foods, cellphones manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, agro-machinery, agro-implements/tools, cosmetics, two-wheelers, kitchenware and utensils among others,” Amb Baseer said.

“Similarly, Zimbabwe has demand for its raw cotton and tobacco along with several products like blueberries. Zimbabwe is number one in blueberry exports, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the Zimbabwean blueberries being sold in the markets in Islamabad last year”.

Deputy Minister Chikomo said Zimbabwe looked forward to continuing working with Pakistan in further strengthening the co-operation between the two friendly countries.

We are fully cognisant of the excellent bilateral relations that so happily exist between our two nations,” she said.

“The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been a good friend of Zimbabwe prior to Zimbabwe’s independence and we continue to receive technical assistance from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which has benefitted a large number of our nationals. Zimbabwe continues to benefit from Pakistani scholarships under its Technical Assistance Programme for Africa. The scholarships are in the areas of architecture, medicine, engineering, surveying, map making, banking, and diplomacy”.