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Herald Reporter

President Mnangagwa is expected to attend the 27th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference slated for Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in November, following an invitation by his counterpart, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Also known as COP27, the hosting of the climate conference in the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh this year, marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The framework provides a platform to better understand climate change scientifically and devise ways to fight it.

President Mnangagwa received the official invitation yesterday from the outgoing Egyptian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mahmoud Farouk Amer, after he paid a courtesy call on the President at State House.

“I have come to the end of my tour of duty here in Zimbabwe and I have presented His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) with the official invitation letter from his counterpart, his brother President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to attend COP27, which is going to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh; the world leaders’ summit from November 7 to 8, and His Excellency gladly accepted,” said Ambassador Amer.

President Mnangagwa was also invited to COP26 held in Glasgow, Scotland last year.

The President’s invitation to the United Kingdom for COP26 and his eventual attendance, marked the first time in over two decades that a Zimbabwean leader visited the UK.

Ambassador Amer said Zimbabwe and Egypt share excellent relations, adding that there was scope to extend them to the economic front.

“We have excellent political relations between our two countries and I worked hard during my stay here trying to bring to par the economic relations with the political relations.

“This is the directive I had from President Fattah El-Sisi and when I presented my credentials, His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) said I should work on that as well, which I did. Now we have potential in the field of health, capacity building and training programmes for Zimbabweans in the field of tourism, agriculture and in the pharmaceuticals.

“So we have great potential that we can invigorate in our relations,” he added.

A delegation from Egypt’s Ministry of Housing was recently in the country to share experiences with Zimbabwe in its plans to construct the smart city in Mt Hampden.

Egypt is also constructing a new administrative capital.