Zimbabwe set to re-engage with the West: president

HARARE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe will soon dispatch delegations to western countries in response to re-engagement efforts being initiated by various European powers, President Mnangagwa has said.

Addressing Zimbabweans based in Mozambique after a courtesy visit to his counterpart President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said there was renewed interest in Zimbabwe by western countries as evidenced by the growing number of envoys dispatched to Harare to seek re-engagement, state-run media, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported Thursday.

Western countries had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe since the early 2000s, largely because of the land issue when white farmers were forcibly removed from their land and replaced with formerly landless blacks.

"But since the dawn of the new era, we are receiving indications from the west...they want to invest in Zimbabwe. In the next few weeks I will be dispatching a delegation to the United Kingdom in response to their calls for re-engagement.

"It will see Zimbabwe again growing by a pace that allows us to catch up with the rest of SADC and the rest of the world as well as overtaking others," he was quoted as saying.

He reiterated that Zimbabwe would amend investment laws to make it attractive for investment.

"We have declared that Zimbabwe is now open for business. We have to attend to all pieces of legislation which constrain the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe," said the President.

He said the military intervention which led to the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe was a justified means of ending state capture by a faction in the ruling Zanu-PF faction known as G40.

Zimbabweans in Mozambique urged government to put in place incentives for those willing to repatriate their funds to invest back home.

"We want to return home to repatriate our savings from Mozambique to Zimbabwe but we want assurance," said Zimbabweans in Mozambique Association chairman George Sithole.

The Zimbabweans also expressed their interest to vote from Mozambique in the forthcoming elections through the diaspora vote.

But Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe currently had no logistical capacity to facilitate diaspora voting. Enditem