•PATRIOTIC Front Roan Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the hospital in Luanshya yesterday. Picture by MILDRED KATONGO

By DAVIS MATAKA  –
WORKS on the Chinese One Road One Belt Industrial Park have commenced in Lusaka two weeks after a 20-man Chinese business investment team visited the country pledging a total investment of US$1 billion in the construction of hi-tech manufacturing industries.
More than eight of the 20 manufacturing companies that pledged to set up shops have already started construction works at the 125-acre Mungwi Road Park with more expected to fulfill their pledges in the coming few weeks.
A check at the site revealed earth-moving equipment had been mobilised while workers were found erecting foundation stones and boundary fences.
Some of the firms which had started works are the Tiajan Kimmit Electronic Technology Company, with expertise in the production of electric bicycle instruments and sensors, the Auzias Biological Technology Corporation Limited, a hi-tech enterprise combining research, the manufacture and sales of IVD reagents and medical laboratory equipment.
Others that had started are Tiajin Haisheng Pump Manufacturing Corporation, with expertise in the production of an array of pump types such as high pressure plunger pumps and screw pumps, and the Lu Wei Munincipal Administration Construction Corporation Limited.
Vice-general manager of One Belt and One Road International Physical Distribution Group, Zhang Jian said in an interview that the manufacturing firms would mobilise and move on site by March next year.
Mr Zhang said the works at the Mungwi site were a prelude to greater investment pledges made by private Chinese companies.
Mr Zhang said the Mungwi Park was a bit limited in space and would only accommodate 10 small-scale manufacturing firms. The park would be a proto-type to the larger one.
To accommodate more Chinese investors, he called for favourable investor-friendly policies that would attract increased investment.
Mr Zhang has since appealed to the Government to allocate a further 2,000 acres of land to accommodate more Chinese firms that had shown interest in investing in Zambia, following the successful visit of the Chinese business delegation a fortnight ago.
He also revealed that Zambia’s Ambassador to China Yang Yoaming recently held a series of meetings with top Chinese business executives in Beijing and that an investment forum had been planned and slated for early next year.
“We expect to see more Chinese investment coming to Zambia early next year, thanks to the exploratory visit by the Chinese investment team which was here a fortnight ago and the engagement that the Zambian embassy has been having with the business community in China, specifically the Tianjin Group of Companies,” he said.
Mr Yang said the One Belt One Road industrial Park was the first of its kind to be set up in Africa and was poised to be a model for more Chinese investments in Zambia.
Last month, a 20-man Chinese business delegation visited Zambia with a $1 billion investment pledge in the manufacturing sector and while in the country, the delegation led by the vice-chairman and party secretary of Tianjin Association of Industry and Commerce Liu Daogang met President Edgar Lungu and held fruitful deliberations.
Zambia is also this week expected to attend a China-Africa summit in Johannesburg, South Africa under the auspicies of the China-Africa Co- operation (FOCAC).
The summit was a forum set up to help promote trade and investment between China and Africa. Trade between China and Africa exceeded $220 billion last year. -Story courtesy of DAVMAT MEDIA.