Zim, EU trade agreement underutilised: Von Kirchmann
CHENGETAI MURIMWA
The free trade agreement between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) is not being fully utilised as many local businesses are unaware of it, the European Union Ambassador to Zimbabwe Jobst Von Kirchmann has said.
Speaking to Business at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) last week, Ambassador Von Kirchmann said that the Economic Partnership Agreement would help to increase trade between Zimbabwe and the EU member states.
“Zimbabwean companies can export duty-free and tariff-free any products to the EU market. We have figured out over the last few years that while we are the fourth biggest buyer of Zimbabwean products and the biggest buyer of horticulture products which is over 40% and a trade volume of 700m, we still believe this agreement is underutilised,” Ambassador Von Kirchmann told Business Times adding that “This is because many companies do not know about it and do not know how to register for exports and what formalities need to be done.”
He also mentioned that two weeks earlier, the EU had held a business conference in the capital Harare, as part of its efforts to increase awareness of the opportunities accessible to Zimbabwean companies in Europe.
“We had a business conference a fortnight ago and all EU member states were present and we wanted to make companies aware of all these possibilities. We want to increase trade between the EU and Zimbabwe,” he said.
He also mentioned that two weeks earlier, the EU had held a business conference in the capital Harare, as part of its efforts to increase awareness of the opportunities accessible to Zimbabwean companies in Europe.
“Zimbabwe sells more to Europe that they buy from the bloc and we have no problem with that. We have a lot to offer in terms of modernisation and we have modern machinery and some of the machinery from countries such as Italy, Germany and other countries have been delivered to Zimbabwe, like packaging material and many other things could be delivered duty and tariff free and we want companies to know that. We are here to increase trade and trade is only possible when you have solid investment,” Ambassador Von Kirchmann said.
In order to facilitate potential matchmaking, Ambassador Von Kirchmann expressed hope that European companies will take part in the upcoming ZITF in addition to Zimbabwean companies exhibiting in Europe.
“My personal dream is that in one of the coming years we are able to bring European companies so that they can see what’s possible here and also Zimbabwean companies exhibiting in Europe and see what is possible in terms of match making,” he said.
