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ZIMBABWE has reaffirmed its commitment to regional integration, pledging full cooperation with SADC member states in implementing the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), Foreign Affairs and International Trade Permanent Secretary and incoming Chairperson of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, Ambassador Albert Chimbindi has said.

Ambassador Chimbindi is taking over the chairmanship of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials from Ambassador Nazaré José Salvador who is the director of SADC Office in Angola.
Speaking at the official opening of the meeting of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials in Mt Hampden, Ambassador Chimbindi said Zimbabwe is ready to work with all member states
“As chair, Zimbabwe stands ready to collaborate with all member states and our cooperating partners as we intensify our efforts towards implementing our shared aspirations enshrined in our regional blueprint, the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020 to 2030,” he said.

Ambassador Chimbindi said while the regional bloc has registered progress across various pillars of the regional integration agenda, a lot still needs to be done.
“The agenda makes a clarion call for us to continue improving our transport, energy and digital infrastructure, among others, as these are essential enablers of both our integration agenda and sustainable economic development and ultimately the industrialised SADC that we want,” he said.

“We should also continue to lend our support to our brothers and sisters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique given that a stable, peaceful and secure SADC is key to the upliftment of the lives and livelihoods of our people.
“In the SADC spirit and our mutual defence pact, an injury to one is an injury to all of us.”

He said there is a need to intensify trade facilitation measures to boost intra-regional trade and investment in the region.
“It is critical that we fully take advantage of the opportunities presented by instruments such as the SADC Protocol on Trade, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote industrialisation and enhance competitiveness of the region, thereby creating decent work and alleviating poverty for our people”