India and Zimbabwe have decided to further enhance their cooperation in the priority sectors of cooperation namely, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, health sector, small and medium industries. This was agreed during a bilateral meeting of the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Anand Sharma with Ms. Joice T R Mujuru, Vice President of Zimbabwe and Mr. Michael Bimha, Industry and Commerce Minister of Zimbabwe, in Harare on February 3, 2014.

Shri Sharma also met Mr. Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance. Shri Sharma informed the Zimbabwean side that in addition to the assistance being offered under the Lines of Credit, India is willing to provide assistance under the Buyers’ Credit Programme. India, in September 2012, approved a LoC worth USD 28.6 million for up-gradation of Deka Pumping Station and the River Water Intake System in Zimbabwe.

During the discussions, it was also decided to speed up the implementation of various projects being executed under the India-Africa Forum Summit Programme, which include a Food Testing Laboratory, a Rural Training Park and a Vocational Training Centre. India is mulling to set up an FTL in Zimbabwe at an approximate cost of US$ 2 million under the India-Africa Forum Summit-II. Under the IAFS-II, India is in the process of setting up Rural Technology Park in and a Vocational Training Centre (VTC)/Incubation Centre.

Shri Sharma offered to the Zimbabwean side to organize a special dedicated programme to train the Government officials and private sector executives in international trade. This training will be organized at the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute for Foreign Trade, New Delhi. IIFT’s offer is to conduct an Executive Development Programme on International Business in Zimbabwe, which will be conducted for a period of one week for about 60 participants from the Zimbabwean side.

Shri Sharma also expressed India’s commitment to deepen and diversify the trade and investment ties between India and Zimbabwe. The Indian Minister offered India’s full assistance in implementing the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET) programme in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, food production, mining, capacity development. In order to identify areas of cooperation in the field of production of generics, a delegation from PHARMEXCIL will visit Zimbabwe to have deliberations with Zimbabwean industry and Government.

While India’s export to Zimbabwe stood at US$ 133.08 million in 2012, it rose to US$ 176.26 million in 2013. On the other hand, India’s imports to Zimbabwe decreased from US$ 33.02 million in 2012 to US$ 10.29 million in 2013. India exports drugs, pharmaceuticals & chemicals, machinery and instruments, electronic goods and plastic & linoleum products as major commodities to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, on the other hand exports cotton, tea, non-ferrous metals and spices to India as principal commodities.

Lines of Credit and buyers' credit expand development finance cooperation, accelerating bilateral infrastructure, health and capacity projects. India and Zimbabwe agreed to deepen cooperation in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, health and SME sectors, with India offering concessional assistance under Lines of Credit and proposed Buyers' Credit support to accelerate implementation of India Africa Forum Summit projects, including a Food Testing Laboratory, Rural Technology Park and a Vocational Training/Incubation Centre. India will provide capacity building through an Executive Development Programme by IIFT and support Zimbabwe's ZIMASSET objectives in infrastructure, agriculture, mining and food production; PHARMEXCIL will explore generics production cooperation.