. Lungu

By STANSLOUS NGOSA in Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu is today expected to be among African Heads of State and representatives from the African Union (AU) participating in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma and Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon are other leaders that would be present at the historic summit.
The FOCAC Summit would be held at the Sandton Convention Centre here today and tomorrow under the theme: “Africa-China Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development.”
The Summit is historic, being the first to be held in Africa.
Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba told journalists here that President Lungu would be accompanied by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda, Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba and Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe.
“During the summit, President Lungu is expected to sign trade agreements in various sectors with China such as infrastructure development, agriculture and manufacturing,” Mr Mwamba said.
President Lungu was also expected to attend side events which include the Gala Dinner for the Zambia-South Africa Business Council to be held tomorrow.
However, Mr Mwamba said the Summit would elevate the China-Zambia relationship to a new level that would have a beneficial impact and give impetus to Zambia’s development agenda.
The FOCAC Summit, Mr Mwamba said, was expected to open new avenues of cooperation and open new opportunities for both China and Zambia.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwamba said Government had intensified efforts to reduce the trade deficit between Zambia and South Africa in a quest to promote mutual benefits.
“We are concerned with the trade imbalance between the two countries and it is for this reason that we continuously engage our counterparts so that we have mutual benefits. The trade deficit is too huge, South Africa exports up to 29 billion Rands, while Zambia exports only about three billion, so we feel this could be reduced,” he said.
Currently, there are 250 South African companies in Zambia.
However, one of the efforts to address the situation was the creation of the Zambia-South Africa Business Council which would contribute to the promotion and enhancement of business undertakings between Zambia and South Africa.
Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba said the FOCAC Summit would set the tone for the realization of the challenges Africa was facing.
Mr Kalaba briefed the media after attending a closed door ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the FOCAC.
He said the summit would help Africa deal with the problems of power deficit, climate change and infrastructure development.
Mr Kalaba said Africa, Zambia in particular, was looking at industrialisation as being at the epicentre of economic growth and China was believed to be a partner in this process.
He said Africa was no longer interested in donor aid but wanted to add value to its own products, which would be achieved through the framework of FOCAC.
Meanwhile, Commerce, Trade and Supply minister Margaret Mwanakatwe urged Zambians to take advantage of the incentives such as the 97 per cent tariff quota which Government offered so that they participate and benefit from the economic growth.