Story by Providence Maraneli
ZIMBABWE and South Africa are intensifying efforts to establish a One Stop Border Post at Beitbridge, a move expected to enhance regional integration and improve trade efficiency along one of Southern Africa’s busiest transit corridors.
The development was revealed during a bilateral meeting held this Friday in Beitbridge between Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira, and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Honourable Ronald Lamola.
Beitbridge Border Post is regarded as a critical gateway linking Southern Africa to the rest of the continent. Its modernisation has positioned it as a central hub for regional commerce, while technology-driven systems have also bolstered efforts to curb smuggling.
“This technology has enabled us to fight smuggling as you can see from the screen it’s a smuggling suspect who’s being pursued by our team,” the Manager of drones, Mr Robson Ngwenya.a said.
The two ministers focused on regional integration and the need to have this border post to facilitate smooth trade.
“Our main theme today has been regional integration and for us to integrate we need infrastructure and Beitbridge border post is one of such infrastructure. Zimbabwe and South Africa share a lot in common and this should be exploited for the benefit of the two countries. Integrating infrastructure and removing trade barriers has been one of our major topics in Zimbabwe. South Africa is the largest trade partner of Zimbabwe. We are reaffirming the excellent relation that exist between Zimbabwe and South Africa,” Professor Murwira said.
The meeting also saw two countries engaging on the possibilities of A One Stop Border Post.
“Our engagement today was informed by the flagship project of a one stop border post that is aimed to encourage regional integration trade among SADC members. Zimbabwe is one of our very good trade partners and we are here to deepen that relationship. South Africa would like to congratulate Zimbabwe on the massive infrastructure and modernisation that we have seen on the Zimbabwean border side,” Honourable Lamola said.
South Africa also reaffirmed its support for Zimbabwe’s non-permanent seat candidature in the UN Security Council.
