Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Editor
SWEDEN has pledged to partner with Zimbabwe in climate change mitigation, women empowerment and reproductive health.
This came out during celebrations to mark the Swedish National Day in Harare this Thursday.
To mark the day, the Swedish Embassy hosted the diplomatic community with the Ambassador, His Excellency Per Lindgarde saying his country will continue supporting Zimbabwe in the different sectors, particularly social clusters.
She said, “We opened an embassy in Harare when Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 and began our development cooperation. We have been a development partner ever since. Our development programme is a cornerstone of this partnership. In the area of environment, climate change and sustainable use of natural resources, we are supporting the Utariri Project in the Zambezi Valley, which is building capacity in climate-smart agriculture techniques, effectively enhancing resilience to climate change and promoting biodiversity.
“Regarding our future cooperation, the Swedish government presented a reform agenda for our developing cooperation in December last year. The aim being to find synergies between development cooperation, trade and create conditions for developing countries to go from poverty to prosperity through trade and economic development. In this vein, we are investing in Zimbabwean private sector development and innovation capacity among others via our partnership with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.”
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister, Honourable Sheillah Chikomo re-affirmed government’s commitment to economic diplomacy as a tool to achieve sustainable development.
“Since the advent of the Second Republic, the government of Zimbabwe has spared no effort in its desire to strengthen and broaden these relations to encompass economic, trade and investment exchanges for the mutual benefit of our two countries and our people. Zimbabwe appreciates the developmental assistance rendered by Sweden through its various agencies, including in health-related issues, in the promotion of gender equality, in fighting for the rights of women and children in poverty alleviation initiatives, in strengthening of democracy and, lastly, in climate change mitigation measures, among others.
“Your Excellency, we note and applaud Sweden for being amongst the top contributors towards development aid to Zimbabwe in that regard. It is our cherished hope to see an improvement in channeling this through the government. The mutual shared overarching objective is to ensure greater transparency and that the aid assistance reaches the most vulnerable of our society in order not to leave anyone at any place behind, as the mantra states,” she said.
Swedish companies operating in Zimbabwe include Atlas Copco, Sandvik, SKF and Tusilago.
