HARARE One of the three main leaders of Zimbabwes unity government has urged the country to abandon President Robert Mugabes much vaunted Look East policy and instead adopt a more embracing foreign policy and strengthen relations with the rest of the world.“We are burying the misguided notion of Look East policy,” Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara announced at the launch of the government report on Public Private Partnership for Economic Development in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has since 2000 promoted an aggressive Look East policy premised on the need to find new trading partners and markets after traditional investors from Western nations turned against Harare in protest over Mugabes human rights abuses, repression against political opponents and violent land-grab programme.
Mutambara said Zimbabwe should abandoned the policy because the inclusive government formed in February between Mugabes Zanu (PF) party and the two MDC formations led by him and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was struggling to raise funding to revive the countrys economy and needed to take advantage of opportunities from all quarters.
“How can we look East when the East is looking West. We must look everywhere for opportunities. We are sick and tired of paralysis thinking, look East, look West, look at yourself. This is a paradigm shift we are talking about.”
Mugabes Look East policy specifically targeted investors from Muslim and Asian nations and in exchange Zimbabwe promised minerals including diamonds and gold and prime land to the investors, resulting in Harare penning several agreements mainly with China, Russia and Iran.
But critics say there have been little results because the policy failed to attract serious and meaningful investments to shore up Zimbabwes struggling economy chiefly because the crisis-hit nation had failed to meet its side of the deal.
Post published in: Economy