A top Zambian government official said on Saturday that the World Bank has pledged to release funds to support the installation of an optic fiber network at Zambia's border with Zimbabwe.

Felix Mutati, Zambian Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, said the optic fiber network is meant to enhance communication and service delivery at the Chirundu One Stop Border Post which is being rehabilitated.

According to the Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS), Mutati said in Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls town at the on-going 13thsummit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) that the two governments are in the next two weeks expected to install micro link computer technology as they await the World Bank to implement the optic fiber project.

"The border Post once opened will separate commerce from traffic there by decongesting activities at the border where it normally take about seven days to clear goods and services," Mutati was quoted as saying.

The border post will soon be officially opened by Zambian President Rupiah Banda and his Zimbabwean counter part Robert Mugabe, according to ZANIS.

The Zambian leader said about US$3 million under the COMESA North to South development Corridor have already been spent on the construction of the facility, adding that 90 percent of the works has been done.

He further said the shortening of clearing process at the border would reduce on transportation costs and other charges, adding that it is one of the positive achievements coming from regional integration.

Speaking at the same occasion, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the Chirundu one Stop Border Post has been introduced in an effort to ease congestion at border posts as well as reduce transit times for traders and transporters.

Tsvangirai said the construction of the facility is a key milestone in the promotion of development of trade and would give impetus to enhancing regional trade and integration.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2009)