Zim Now Writer
ZimTrade - in partnership with the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority - is set to organise a Zimbabwe-China Business Forum which will concentrate on promoting Zimbabwe’s trade, tourism, and investment opportunities.
This comes after the trade between Zimbabwe and China increased 29.2 percent year-on-year to a record high of US$2.43 billion in 2022.
“China, as a net importer and boasting a sizable population is becoming one of Zimbabwe’s top export destinations, already ranking as the third-largest exporter of Zimbabwean goods. In 2022, a citrus protocol was signed between the two countries, giving local companies access to export citrus to China, one of the biggest consumers of citrus products,” ZimTrade said in a statement.
This year, Zimbabwe is taking advantage of this relationship and working to maximize this opening and capitalize on mutually beneficial trade opportunities.
The country exported goods worth US$1.3 billion to China and imported US$1.13 billion dollars’ worth of goods from China.
China mostly imports tobacco leaf, processed tobacco, ferroalloys and chromium ore from Zimbabwe.
In 2021, China made key investments in the Zimbabwe's infrastructure and mining schemes, as the two countries continue to boost economic and trade relationships.
ZimTrade has said President Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe National Trade Policy and the National Strategy (2019-2023), introduced the need to grow exports through market and product diversification.
“Already, the need to diversify export markets has seen an acceleration of trade promotion activities to emerging markets, such as a series of Business Forums held in 2022 between Zimbabwean companies and potential partners from countries such as United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” ZimTrade said in a statement.
It said these activities have raised the profile of Zimbabwean products and generated interest from markets around the world.
The trade development and promotion agency also said with the current positive trend in export growth, businesses across Zimbabwe can take advantage and expand their products into traditional and non-traditional markets.
“With the continued demand for organic and fresh produce in countries like Europe and the Middle East, there is a great potential for Zimbabwe to expand their exports, with a high likelihood of surpassing the US$7 billion-dollar mark in 2023.
“This has been paying off as statistics show that exports have seen a 9.2 percent increase from US$5.4 billion in Jan-November 2021 to US$5.9 billion in the same period in 2022,” said ZimTrade.
The agency said the continued interest in the market for Zimbabwean goods has encouraged further market surveys in the Middle-East as of this year.
It said Zimbabwe will be quickening activities to foster trade and widen the availability of its products to different markets like China, Malaysia and Egypt, with a goal of achieving continued export growth.
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