Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema has opened the first ever European Union – Zambia Economic Forum today.
In a stament on Facebook, Hichilema said he is honoured to have opened the Economic Forum being held under the theme “Economic Transformation through Green Growth”.
He said:
This Forum comes in the wake of the recently held Mining Indaba in Cape Town where we explored investment opportunities for our mining sector. Following these two business conventions and others in the near future, we can confidently and proudly reiterate our view that Zambia is back in the league of Nations, Zambia is back and open for business in all sectors of our economy. We are determined to unlock the market in order to create business opportunities that will result in meaningful jobs for our people.
We told the Forum how we consider the European Union (EU) an important partner because of its significant import and export volume that include machinery, transport, equipment and chemical products as our imports, and materials such as non-ferrous metals and agricultural products as their imports from Zambia.
We were pleased to learn that Zambia has attracted several EU companies with an estimated value of 1.6 Billion Euros in areas such as Energy, Environmental Services, Construction, Engineering services and Fresh Agro-Processing among many. We are keen to consolidate and strengthen our ties and contribute to the growth of trade and investment between Zambia and the EU. This milestone Forum offers a platform for that important mission.
We thanked EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Janusz Wojciechowski, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Mr Albert Muchanga and EU and COMESA Ambassador to Zambia, His Excellency Jacek Jankowski, for rendering valuable contributions to this important Forum.
As we push to create wealth for the Zambian people, we’re encouraged to hear how much has been done already but we can and should do more. The drive to enhance business and investment between Zambia and the EU bloc should be relentless. We owe it to our people to unlock opportunities for them, not just as employees but also as employers. Let’s get it done! 🇿🇲 🇪🇺
