By NAMO PHIRI
Zambia’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Emmanuel Mwamba says the new dawn administration has not taken advantage of the diplomatic relations with other countries to improve the economy by attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Mr. Mwamba told Millennium TV that Zambia is a land-linked country with a comparative advantage of making economic progress through bilateral relations. We’ve been emphasising that the President must go to China to help unlock and resolve the issue of debt restructuring and it has taken him almost 20 months to make such a decision. So he is not capitalizing on our bilateral relations.
“We thank the United States to where he leans, we thank the US that they are the biggest bilateral partner, especially the support they give us to the health, education and social sectors. However, we need to balance all our interest in the region and across the world,” Mr Mwamba said.
He also said it was important for Zambia to benefit from the BRICS countries, which are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Mr Mwamba stated that taking advantage of the country’s geographical position meant balancing relations in the region and worldwide.
Mr. Mwamba who is also a Patriotic Front (PF) presidential aspirant, added that Government’s failure to directly engage with China over debt restructuring was an indication that Zambia is failing to capitalize on already existing foreign relations.
He said the relations that President Hichilema claims to have established with other countries should translate into tangible investment.
