Story by Thembinkosi Mangena

THE 11th session of the joint permanent commission on cooperation between Zimbabwe and Malawi has ended in Lilongwe, with the two nations emphasising the importance of public and private sectors’ participation in cementing economic cooperation.

The Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation (JPCC) between the two sister republics, Zimbabwe and Malawi ended in Lilongwe this Wednesday after days of deliberations on possible areas of collaboration.

Held at the ministerial level, Zimbabwe was represented by the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Dr Joram Gumbo, while Malawi was represented by Honourable Nancy Tembo, who is that country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After co-chairing the JPCC, the two ministers released a joint communique, highlighting the success of the engagements and areas of possible cooperation.

“We welcome the conclusion of negotiations on several Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on cooperation in the fields of Local Government, Police Matters, Gender, Forestry Management, Immigration; Energy; Information and Broadcasting,” said Dr Gumbo.

“Negotiations were also concluded on instruments of bilateral cooperation between the two States’ public broadcasters and news agencies, namely the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), and Malawi News Agency (MANA) and Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency (NEW ZIANA),” he added.

While, Honourable Tembo asserted, “There is no point spending time engaging as we have done and at the end of the day we don’t implement agreement)”.

The government of Malawi also expressed gratitude to Zimbabwe for humanitarian support in the wake of the devastating Cyclone Freddy which affected the southern parts of that country.

The JPCC comes as a precursor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s three-day state visit to Malawi from this Wednesday.