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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to strengthen cooperation in various sectors of the economy, as the two countries seek to deepen bilateral relations.

Some of the areas that have been identified include agriculture, hydrocarbon, energy, health, tourism, conservation and aviation.

This is contained in a communique released yesterday following a two-day State visit to the DRC by President Mnangagwa on Tuesday, where he met his counterpart President Joseph Kabila.

The two countries agreed to review their bilateral relations in their next joint commission meetings with the aim of strengthening ties between Harare and Kinshasa.

“The two Heads of State welcomed the excellent friendly relations that unite their two peoples, as well as cooperation in various areas,” reads the communique.

“To that end, they decided that the next Joint Commission in Zimbabwe should take stock of and revive the different agreements of cooperation, in the mutual interest of the two States.”

It was agreed that the areas of cooperation should be pursued vigorously for them to produce mutually beneficial results.

“The two Heads of State urged their Governments to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of tourism and the conservation of nature,” reads the communique. “They also decided to intensify their cooperation in the training of professionals, in combating water pollution, soil erosion, desertification, in mitigating droughts, in battling climate change, in agro-forestry and in the REDD Plus process.

“In the aviation sector, the two Heads of State expressed their determination to engage in consultations with a view to taking advantage of opportunities in international aviation, notably through fruitful collaboration between Air Zimbabwe and Congo Airways.”

The two leaders agreed to meet regularly to pursue their consultations on the situation in their respective countries and in the region of Southern Africa.

“The two Heads of State requested their respective Governments to examine the issue of Congolese doctors deployed in Zimbabwe, with a view to improving the medical partnership between the two States,” further reads the communique.

President Kabila congratulated President Mnangagwa for the election of Zimbabwe during the 30th African Union Heads of State’s summit held in Addis Ababa between 28 and 29 January 2018 to the AU Peace and Security Council.

The two Heads of State expressed confidence that all concerned entities in the DRC and Zimbabwe would mobilise all necessary resources to ensure the success of electoral processes in the two respective countries.

President Kabila offered his condolences following the death of former Prime Minister and MDC-T leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, a fortnight ago, after a long battle with cancer of the colon.