Zimbabwe is open for business, Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said on Thursday, urging South African companies to investigate investment opportunities.

“South Africa must seize the opportunity now to position themselves to invest in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe offers many opportunities across the wide spectrum of all sectors of the economy,” he said at a trade and investment conference in Johannesburg.

The Zimbabwe economy is rebounding after a decade of economic decline and Mashakada pointed out that growth of 9.4% is forecast for 2012. Zimbabwe aimed to reach an investment to gross domestic product ratio of 25% by 2015, he added.

The conference, themed ‘Invest in Zimbabwe, invest in a resource-rich and growing economy’, also highlighted strong trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe, with more than 50% of Zimbabwe’s imports originating from South Africa, and 56% of Zimbabwe’s exports heading to South Africa.

South Africa and Zimbabwe must work together for the “common good”, and needed to establish strong relations with one another, Mashakada emphasised.

“We should be building many bridges of engagement between the two countries,” added Zimbabwean ambassador to South Africa, Phelekezela Mphoko. Click here to read more