KF뉴스레터-‘ I Expect Korea to be a Partner of Our Economic Development’

‘ I Expect Korea to be a Partner of Our Economic Development’

These days, it is a trend in international diplomacy to establish cooperative relations with African countries, in order to pursue development projects in this resourcerich continent. As for the recent visit of Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development, Elias Mudzuri, he foresees Korea having a positive impact on the economic development of Zimbabwe and other countries in central and southern Africa.

1. With this being your first visit to Korea, how would you describe your experiences here?
In a word, it was really great, because I was able to meet and build a valuable network with many people of Korea’s business sector and government officials. It was also great to learn so many things about the economic development of Korea, which had successfully progressed from a developing country to that of an advanced county. I may say that this visit gave me an opportunity to open my eyes to Korea, a country very far away from Zimbabwe. I think Korea has a very bright future because it is successfully attracting a huge amount of foreign investment, and is filled with such good people living in a safe society.

2. As the Minister of Energy and Power Development of Zimbabwe, on what particular areas do you intend to focus your primary efforts?
My first and foremost goal, of course, is to assure a stable supply of energy throughout my country. Frankly speaking, power shortages in Zimbabwe are at a serious level, because we can satisfy only about 20 percent of overall demand. This situation needs to be addressed urgently for the stability of development projects and the public’s convenience. It is not easy, however, to improve the situation drastically, within a notso- long ministerial term. Therefore, I think my role in office is to make a good start on the development of Zimbabwe so that we can have a reliable energy supply in the future. Fortunately, Zimbabwe has sufficient natural resources, like coal and water resources for development. So, we are looking for partners to build development facilities in order to utilize these resources. We thus have high expectations about cooperation with Korea in this regard.

3. Nowadays, there seems to be intensified competition to attract technology transfer and investment from foreign countries.
Of course, we are seeing certain limitations at the moment. Your country must have a certain level of credibility to successfully attract foreign investment. Fortunately, in Africa, Zimbabwe is one of its most stable countries, politically as well as socially. The current government is making various efforts to maintain this stability and strengthen the country’s international credibility. We can show the international community that such efforts are being made on a continual basis and will also bear fruitful results. We also emphasize the continuous strides that democracy is making in Zimbabwe. Based on this foundation, I expect that our economy will also improve in a steady manner.

4. Since power shortage is a common problem in various regions of Africa, we have heard about joint efforts to tackle this situation.
That is correct. Countries like Zimbabwe, Congo, Botswana, Mozambique, and Namibia are making cooperative efforts under the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP). SAPP is a kind of market for the sale and purchase of electricity, in which Zimbabwe plays a central role, because the electrical grids of member countries are connected through our country. I believe the fact that Zimbabwe occupies a key position in SAPP will prove beneficial to Korean companies with an interest in the development of electric-power projects. In particular, the developers of electricpower facilities in Zimbabwe will not have to worry about an excess supply of electricity, since all generated power is distributed to regional users through the SAPP network.

5. What are your impressions about the Korean businesses that you met with during your stay?
I was deeply impressed when I visited various companies here related to electric-power generation, such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Hyosung Heavy Industries and LS Industrial System. I am hopeful that Korean businesses like these will play a pivotal role in upgrading and renovating our electric-power generation facilities, building new electric-power plants, and increasing the capacity of power transmission and distribution systems, with their world-class technology. In addition, Korea’s know-how about renewable energy and environment-friendly generation of electricity will be a great help to Zimbabwe. Korea’s technology will synergy effects when combined with Zimbabwe’s development potential. Besides technology, Korea has another attractive aspect: the experience of its successful development. Not many countries in the world have achieved successful development in such a short period of time. For this reason, Zimbabwe pays special attention to Korea as a partner for our development.

6. What advantages does Zimbabwe provide to help attract the attention of Korean businesses?
Zimbabwe is a very safe country, with people who are kind and friendly. There are, of course, many shortfalls and things we need to modernize, but the Zimbabwe government and people are open to people from anywhere in the world. From an economic perspective, we have a good understanding of what is required to attract foreign investment. The foremost concern of investors is the retrieval of their investment. The government of Zimbabwe thus pays keen attention to the protection of investor interests. We place great importance on education and have a workforce that is intelligent and dedicated. The literacy rate of Zimbabwe reaches 80 percent, which is the highest level in Africa. Based on this educational infrastructure, Zimbabwe has become one of the fastest growing countries in Africa.

7. What kind of efforts will you emphasize to help promote Zimbabwe-Korea cooperation and exchange?
I would encourage any Korean business or investor with an interest in Africa to visit Zimbabwe so that you can see for yourself what our country is all about. Whenever I am able to visit a country abroad, this is what I tell the people I meet. Africa is composed of such diverse countries that it is too hard to group them all under the name of Africa. I hope people will understand that each African country has distinctive characteristics and a very different environment and reality, much like the countries in Asia. So, I ask you to see with your own eyes if you would like to understand the strengths and weaknesses and potential of Zimbabwe in more detail. You will probably feel that our country is far better than what you might have imagined. After knowing each other better in this way, I am confident that we will be able to naturally develop cooperation and exchange.

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‘ I Expect Korea to be a Partner of Our Economic Development’

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‘ I Expect Korea to be a Partner of Our Economic Development’

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