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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
SPAIN yesterday pledged to support President Mnangagwa’s administration and is already exploring investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.

This was said by the Spanish ambassador to Zimbabwe Mrs Alicia Moral after paying a courtesy call on Energy and Power Development Minister Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo at his offices in Harare.

Mrs Moral said she had lined up several meetings with Government ministers to explore areas Madrid could invest in Zimbabwe.

“I have been meeting with ministers of the new Government to increase bi-lateral relations between Spain and Zimbabwe,” said Mrs Moral.

She said re-enforcement of bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Spain was important.

“Meetings between representatives from Spain and their counterparts in Zimbabwe have already begun in earnest,” said Mrs Moral.

“The economic aspect of this relationship is very important. This is why Economic and Commercial Bureau of Spain which is based in Johannesburg came this week to meet with Minister of Defence to explore opportunities for Spanish companies. So, this is the main purpose of this meeting today to see what opportunities are there for Spanish companies in the energy sector.”

Mrs Moral said Spanish companies had expressed interest in the energy sector and that explained her meeting with Minister Khaya Moyo. “I want to say this (energy) sector is very important for us because there are big Spanish companies that have a lot of expertise in energy, particularly renewable energy,” she said. “There has been a very interesting discussion today. The Minister has given us information about what are opportunities and prospects of investment and projects in energy in Zimbabwe in the near future.”

In January this year, Spain indicated that some members of the European Union had appealed to the Western bloc’s executive to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe in response to recent political developments in the country.

This was revealed by the Honorary Consul for Zimbabwe in Spain Mr Jose Maria Camallonga in Madrid while addressing Spanish investors during a visit by Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira.

On Tuesday, visiting European Union International Development Commissioner Mr Neven Mimica met President Mnangagwa and said the bloc was ready to work with the new Zimbabwe Government in formulating policies that would enable it to turn around the country’s economic fortunes.

Mr Mimica was the first high-ranking EU official to visit Zimbabwe since 2009.