By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –

ZAMBIA is a safe destination for European investors and growth trends will continue to gather pace, the European Times has said.
European Times project manager Maarten Pennings said Zambia was a safe haven for European investments hence the need to market it as the preferred destination in Africa.
Speaking during the launch of a new publication, European Times Zambia, Mr Pennings said it was important for the European investors to tap into Zambia’s growth potentials and take advantage of the country’s market links with other nations in the region.
Mr Pennings said the publication highlights Zambia’s current development programmes, business environment, investment opportunities and the policies.
He said the publication gives a better understanding of Zambia’s overall economic activities and performance to the European investors.
“We distribute to 1.7 million subscribers within Europe and we have created networks in other countries.
The European Times Zambia has been based on the recommendation from Grace Kabwe, ambassador of Zambia to the Kingdom of Belgium, Netherlands who invited us to do a special report on Zambia,” he said.
The publication has covered sectors such as finance, agriculture, tourism, mining, manufacturing, construction, health, education, aviation, Information Communication Technology and among others.
Mr Pennings said this was a joint initiative and the publication has been presented to the European commission and European Parliament saying that it would be used as reference for people in Europe to understand Zambia’s economy.
“This report is there to make sure that people in Europe know what Zambia has to offer in terms of investment and to bring people closer together to establish foreign direct investment, joint ventures and public private partnership,” he said.
Mr Pennings said Zambia should not be viewed as an import country because it was market linked.
He said with the massive investment in the road infrastructure by the Government such as the Link 8,000 project movement to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Angola and Tanzania would be enhanced.