Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu held wide-ranging talks to strengthen ties between the two countries yesterday. The Zambian President is on a State visit to India, which also coincided with two countries signing six agreements in key sectors. These include in the field of geology and mineral resources, defense, and arts and culture. A MoU was signed between Foreign Service Institute of India and Zambian Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies. Also, two agreements were inked on ‘E-VBAB Network Project’ (e-education) as well as between Election Commission of India and Electoral Commission of Zambia. It is not known exactly the objectives of the MOU signed between election commissions of both countries.
India will also provide 100 solar irrigation pumps to boost agriculture and send 1,000 tonnes of rice as well as 100 tonnes of milk powder to Zambia. Also, India will deploy five fire fighting equipment in the defense bases of Zambia.
In the meeting with the business community of India held later in the day, Zambian President invited India to invest in that country, particularly in the areas like mining, e-governance, healthcare, energy, IT and ITeS and tourism to take the level of cooperation to a higher level. The businessmen representing CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM, three apex business organizations of the India- pledged their support to boost the level of economic engagements between the two countries.
They told the Zambian business men to take advantage of the zero duty import extended by India to least developed countries to up their exports to India to improve their balance of trade with India, which is presently unfavorable to Zambia
www.trendsnafrica.com talked to a few Zambian and Indian businessmen assembled at the business forum’s meeting. While the Indian side appreciated the relatively better ease of doing atmosphere in Zambia, has expressed their concern about the recent happenings in the Vedanta Resources owned by Indian tycoon Anil Agarwal, which is facing liquidation in Zambia despite getting a favorable court order from international arbitration tribunal based in Johannesburg in South Africa.
The Indian businessmen opined that education and healthcare provide a lot of opportunities to invest in Zambia. A few Zambian businessmen are keen to know more about the mining sector in India to explore the possibilities of investing in that sector. They are also keen to open a tourism marketing campaigns in India to attract the wanderlust Indians to visit scenic spots like Victoria Falls in Zambia
