Thursday 17 February 2011

ZAMBIA INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT CENTRE SIGNS MOUS WITH BLACKS IN GOVERNMENT

Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America
Sheila Siwela witnessed signing ceremony
in Las Vegas on February 15
ZAMBIA International Trade and Investment Centre (ZITC) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Blacks In Government (BIG) Africa Partnerships on promoting  trade in Africa.
The signing ceremony that took place in Las Vegas on February 15,  was witnessed by Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America Sheila Siwela, Chief  Policy Analyst (Economic Development) at State House and Zambia Diaspora Liason officer Ngoza Chilonga Munthali  and over 50 Zambian business executives.
Others were Zambians based in the USA, USA businessmen and some Zambian NGOs involved in gender issues.
Signing on behalf of Zambia International Trade and Investment Centre, Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Kopulande paid tribute to the Zambian government for putting in place a conducive investment climate.
He said Zambia had undergone tremendous economic growth because of the peace and stability that the country had enjoyed since Independence.
Kopulande also said the Zambian government had introduced the Diaspora Desk at State House in order to deal with issues pertaining to investment from Zambians abroad.
The MOU seeks to encourage and promote cooperation between ZITC and BIG (Africa Partnership) in the fields of Trade and Investment with specific emphasis on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
It further states that ZITC and BIG (Africa Partnership) will also promote trade between Africa and the USA under AGOA.
Munthali described the response  by Zambians in the diaspora towards issues related to investment in Zambia as encouraging.
She said  the Desk had over a period of months received a lot of queries and in turn churned out a lot of answers that had been helpful to the Zambians in the diaspora.
Munthali however urged Zambians living abroad to make full use of Zambian embassies and high commissions.
She said the embassies were now in a position to deal with all issues related to investment in Zambia.
Siwela urged Zambians in the diaspora to invest home.
She said there was need for Zambians in the diaspora to show commitment and partnership for their homeland.
Siwela also urged Zambians to join hands to change the image of their homeland and further scale up their efforts towards realization of improved livelihood of the people of Zambia.

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