Story by Peter Chivhima

THE bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Russia continue to grow from strength to strength with the two nations set to cooperate in areas of communication and culture.

Zimbabwe’s engagement and re-engagement drive continues to pay divideds with the latest offspring being the launch of the Centre for Russian Language and Professional Communication at the University of Zimbabwe this Monday.

The scope of the centre is to promote professional communication and economic ties.

“Today’s launch signifies the culmination of the mutual cooperation between Zimbabwe and Russia as you are aware that our countries have already existing strong bilateral relations. The cooperation we have can only be strengthened when we understand the language and culture of one another. It is very important to be versatile in languages because it helps when doing business,” said University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Mapfumo.

Russian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Nikolai Krasnokov stressed the importance of increasing cooperation between the two countries.

“We are very grateful for the support we are getting from Zimbabwe. As part of our foreign policy we put it as a priority to introduce our language in friendly countries so that we can communicate efficiently and professionally. We are expecting to replicate the same in Russia,” he said.

The Second Republic under the stewardship of President Emmerson Mnangagwa has seen an extensive engagement and re-engagement drive being pursued with various countries across the globe.