Zimbabwe to hold first Chinese investment expo

HARARE, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe plans to hold its inaugural Chinese investment expo later this year to showcase Chinese investments in various sectors and their contribution to the southern African country's economy, an official said Thursday.

Some Chinese companies have confirmed participation at the upcoming annual Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, scheduled for Aug. 26-31 in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, and the Chinese investment expo will serve as a follow-up and dedicated platform to amplify Chinese investments into Zimbabwe over the years, said Maxwell Mutema, chairman of the agriculture development committee in the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS), a private organization that seeks to promote agriculture and its supporting activities and to facilitate agricultural development in the country.

"China is a major investment partner of Zimbabwe, and we will hold this expo to recognize the important role they are playing in the economy, especially in the mining and infrastructure sectors," Mutema told Xinhua on the sidelines of a press conference.

Mutema said the Zimbabwean government will coordinate with the Chinese embassy and the ZAS to convene the event, which will be held at the ZAS premises in downtown Harare.

"China is a friendly country to Zimbabwe. The Chinese expo will cover not just agriculture but a cross-section of all the different investments that China is doing here in Zimbabwe. The expo will be bigger and especially dedicated to showcasing Chinese investments in Zimbabwe," Mutema said.

He added that existing and prospective government-to-government and private-sector investments will be showcased during the expo.

Mutema also expressed the hope that the Chinese investment expo will grow into "a bigger, annual event."