The MoU was signed during the buyers and sellers meet that was held in Harare from October 12 to 14. The island was represented by the minister of Trade and Industry, Cader Sayed-Hossen, representatives of Enterprise Mauritius as well as business people from the sectors of textile and clothing, agro and food processing and bio fertilisers among others.
Speaking to The Independent, Sayed-Hossen said, “The visit to Zimbabwe should be placed in the context of opening trade in the region. We are not only targeting Zimbabwe but also different countries in the region so as to bring about mutually fruitful trade and investment exchanges.”
The minister also said that Zimbabwe is now coming out of a sustained period of economic, social and political difficulty. He elaborated, “Experts are forecasting a growth rate of 10 per cent this year in Zimbabwe and the country can be a major supplier to Mauritius in terms of food products, meat, diamonds and other precious stones.”For Sayed-Hossen, Zimbabwe can prove to be a valuable trading partner for our textiles and garment industry as well as the light engineering industry.
He explained that the buyers-sellers meet in Harare was termed a success by entrepreneurs who received not only confirmed orders for their products but also expression of interests.
He said that the objective of the MoU is to facilitate dialogue and trade exchanges between the private sectors of both countries. The director of Enterprise Mauritius, Dev Chamroo said that the MoU is a medium to access the business market Zimbabwe offers.
“ZNCC is the apex of the private sector organisation in its country. This matchmaking will help Enterprise Mauritius promote exports towards Africa and gain access to Zimbabwe‘s database of businessmen as well,” he declared.