Zambia hosted the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – EXIM Bank Regional Conclave on India-Southern Africa Project Partnership which ran from October 14 to 15, 2019 in Lusaka, marking a strengthening of ties between the two countries.
Over 30 leading companies in India travelled to Zambia with the aim of investing in Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Power and Energy, Information Technology, Agriculture and Manufacturing sector among others.
President Lungu was at hand to officiate the Conclave and urged investors to invest in Zambia’s key priority areas that he earlier emphasized to them when he visited India from August 20 to 21, 2019. He said the Zambian Government has invested heavily in infrastructure, which was an enabler to any development.
The event attracted the attendance of delegates from Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Seychelles, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia among other SADC member states.
Top Government officials, members of the local Indian business community and other business players in Zambia also attended the event. The key partners of the Regional Conclave included the the Government of Zambia, EXIM Bank of India, COMESA Business Council (CBC), Government of India, SADC and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
In addition, Commerce, Trade and Industry minister, Christopher Yaluma said the Conclave will provide the country with the opportunity to consolidate the bilateral economic ties with India and facilitate the growth of business linkages. The minister assured the Conclave that Zambia is a peaceful country in which investors can freely interact and look for business opportunities of interest.
Speaking at the same event, Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) president Chabuka Kawesha stated that the Conclave on Zambia and the larger Southern Africa and India will serve as a robust platform for dialogues between India and the SADC member countries. He added that the event will also focus on economic and commercial deliberations through Business to Government (B2G) and Business to Business (B2B) engagements.
