President Mnangagwa engages WEF chief

Cape Town, (New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday met World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab for talks, and was immediately invited to the group’s 2020 meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

President Mnangagwa is in Cape Town for the 28th edition of the WEF for Africa which opened here on Wednesday, and is being attended by several African and world leaders.

The WEF is an independent, international organisation whose aim is to help expand global economic interface by companies and countries by engaging business, political leaders, academia and other leaders of society.

It is the second time for President Mnangagwa to attend the WEF after his debut in Davos, Switzerland in 2018 where he used the opportunity to re-engage international investors under the mantra, ‘Zimbabwe is Open for business’.

Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet in charge of presidential communications, George Charamba told local journalists that the WEF boss was charmed by progress being made by Zimbabwe as a result of economic reforms being implemented by Government.

“The President gave Schwab an update in terms of the economic reforms being implemented back home to make Zimbabwe attractive to both domestic and foreign direct investments. H.E (His Excellency) updated him on the engagement and re-engagement being done by Zimbabwe, including the slow but sure pace we are registering with the European Union and United Kingdom talks.
“Schwab promised that he is going to invite the President for WEF next year in Davos so that Zimbabwe can consolidate its message on the back of reforms which reforms will register to investors,” he said.

Charamba said the WEF boss was particularly surprised that Zimbabwe now enjoyed a budget surplus, one of the achievements of the economic reforms the country was undertaking.

“He said that is a key piece of information which he wants the President to deliver to the investors,” he said.

Since his appointment as Minister of Finance and Economic Development last year, Professor Mthuli Ncube has targeted to end the country’s long running twin budget and trade deficits, which have stunted economic growth.

The theme for the WEF’s conference in South Africa is “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

It covers the areas of innovation, sustainable development, digitalization and governance, and presents Zimbabwe yet another good opportunity to market itself to world business leaders.
New Ziana