ZIMBABWE Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is to visit South African on Friday 31 July 2009 to address the business community and the media about the significant improvements that have taken place in Zimbabwe since the establishment of the government of National Unity. (Pictured: ZIMBABWE Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai)One of the highlights of Tsvangirais visit will be the Zimbabwe open for business gala dinner at the Sandton Convention Centre on the 31st at the Sandton Convention Centre. At this event Tsvangirai will address 500 senior South African business and government officials about growth opportunities for business and bi-lateral relations between Pretoria and Harare.
Tsvangirais visit to South Africa follows his highly successful tour of western countries, wherein he had meetings with US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This tour of the west went a long way to rebuilding relationships with the global community and to secure donor support for the countrys economic recovery initiatives. The success of this trip can be measured against the 500 million US dollars that was pledged for humanitarian and transitional assistance. This pledge was also backed by the credit lines from the Chinese government to the tune of 950 million US dollars, wherein the Finance Minister Tendai Biti played a critical role in securing the support.
The Zimbabwe Open for Business dinner forms part of the strategy from the Prime Ministers office to create a platform wherein potential investors can have an opportunity to discuss with the leadership from the government of Zimbabwe. The Prime Minister will be accompanied by the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti and the Minister of Economic Development Elton Mangoma with the aim to share information about business opportunities in Zimbabwe and to solicit support from potential investors.